Star Wars: Project Nemesis
by ethanisawesome55
Summary: This is a star wars based story of a group of knights in the clone wars. Thought the challenges they face, n even sinister fate awaits them Thanks to NovaElite and ZoltartheAwesome for inspiring me to wright a story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Alright! Here is the plan. Alpha Team will cover for Beta Team. Beta will infiltrate the command post through the front entrance, and while they create a diversion, Tyler and Colton will take Charlie Team to cut off the transport vehicles. Grace and Victor will proceed to the power supply area and shut it down so we can access most terminals and doors. John and I will take possession of the control bridge. Everyone whose name I have not mentioned will help with beta squad. Understood?"

Ethan had taken over this operation due to the Sith Lord that had been discovered. Clone commander Dante had relinquished his command due to the personal nature of this mission.

Everyone shouted, "SIR YES SIR!"

"To your stations," Ethan responded, "Be prepared, we leave in three hours."

The leaders of the operation, a collection of Jedi Knights and bounty hunters who had grown up together, went to their room to ready for battle. They began checking their gear and discussing the events to come. Colton made sure his medical bag was supplied (although he knew how to heal most injuries with the Force), Will and Victor loaded their guns and checked their ammo, several others made sure their light sabers were in working order, and anyone that also had a blaster made sure to have them fully loaded. Victor had a small discharge from his wrist mounted flamethrowers. William was careful not to activate his rocket launcher, although it was set to disperse gas and not a large explosion.

The thin, quiet bounty hunter pulled their commander aside for a moment, looking worried. "You know he is waiting for us right?" Victor asked.

"Yes," Ethan replied, "We can sense each other. He knows we are here, and he knows we know he is here." The curly-haired young man did not look up from his weapon of choice, a dual-bladed saber.

"Then you know what we have to do?" Victor continued. Victor knew that this mission was personal.

"Of course," Ethan assured his friend, "I won't let him kill any more of us. This stops today."

"Why can't this be like the good old days?" Victor retorted.

Ethan began to slip into what now seemed like a far-off fantasy, but truly were memories of not more than fifteen years ago….

...

"Wake up young ones!" A tall man with a brown braid going down the center of his back and a small goatee shouted. "Today is just the beginning. It is time to start your training... and the rest of your lives."

"I think it's too early," joked one of the children, who seemed taller than the other children, who all looked to be between the ages of nine and eleven.

"No one asked you," exclaimed another student.

"Quiet now, we must begin." The brown-haired instructor insisted. "I am know as Tignor. I will teach you until you are padawans. Now, take time to introduce yourselves to one another, you should learn to get along as you will be training for several years."

The tallest and most muscular of the children turned to face the class, smoothing out the buzz cut on his head. "Hi, I'm Cameron. Where'd he find you losers? I see we even have a set twins. Do you guys have the same birthday or something?"

The twin wearing lighter clothes glared at him. "I think you're saying that to be stupid, so I refuse to answer. I am Malakia, and this is my brother-"

He was interrupted by a swift smack to the back if the head delivered by his duplicate. "Stop confusing people! I'm Malakia. This idiot is Ethan." The black robed twin rolled his eyes.

"Hey! You always ruin my fun." Ethan replied with a pout.

Both twins had green eyes and matching curly brown hair, although Ethan's was slightly more disheveled. They looked practically alike, with only a few minor differences such as a freckle on Ethan and slightly thicker neck on the other.

"You guys are a handful huh?" Another student chimed in. "My name's Colton. Does anyone want to hear some music? I can also do MAGIC TRICKS!" He had a bright, charismatic expression, and almost jet black hair slicked back on his skull.

"No thanks." A softer voice than the rest piped up from the background. "Guys are weird, why am I always the only girl?"

Everyone turned to see a short female with wavy brownish blonde hair and a sarcastic smile.

"Well someone needs to be second prettiest," sneered a lanky pale boy. "After all, I'm obviously the most good looking."

"Can you not?" Replied a tall, shaggy haired child who had been looking down from on top of one of the eight-foot tall pillars in the classroom.

"Sorry, bad joke." The pale kid hurriedly covered up his mistake. "I'm John, but you can call me Ryan."

"No." the twins groaned simultaneously.

"I agree, JOHN." The child on the pillar said. "I'm Tyler. Colton and I came here together."

"What's going on?" Yawned one of the children who had been sleeping the whole time. This one was very thin and pale, and did not seem to care for the banter he had been trying to nap through.

"I don't really know." Said another pupil who had seemed to enter from the restroom. "But hey Victor, I think class started while you were asleep again."

"Drat, sorry." he replied sheepishly.

"It's Ok guys, we haven't done anything but establish that John has some sort of identity crisis and can't decide what his name is," Grace said, slightly irritated with the earlier remarks.

"Well, my name is William, you can call me Will." The boy offered a friendly handshake while at the same time appearing to carefully study everyone in the room.

"Why does he get a nickname and I don't?" John began to whine.

"Because his is actually a shortened version of his real name and doesn't sound like he wants to be a Tomboy." Malakia had replied, jokingly poking john in the forehead.

"Alright, since we all know each other's names, let's get started" Tignor, hoping to avoid an argument between the adolescents, cut short the conversation and opened the doors to the classrooms training room.

...

"Ethan!" The now fifteen-year-old Malakia yelled right next to his meditating twin. Ethan jumped up, almost over Malakia's head.

"Don't do that!" he scolded his brother, punching his arm playfully, "You know you aren't supposed to do that when I meditate!"

"I needed your attention," Malakia shrugged. "That old hag has called everyone to the sparring room. Apparently she has a special training exercise for you and I. Personally, I do NOT want to take part. She gives me the creeps."

Shiva A'landvi was a ruthless, mean spirited person. Ever since their old instructor had died mysteriously, she had taken over their education. Instructor A'landvi made the teens battle each other constantly, and if she was harsh on the other students, she absolutely loathed the twins. It could be that they almost refused to fight each other, teaming up whenever possible. She had been especially grumpy since the last training session, when the twins dropped their training sabers and sat in the middle of the room for an hour rather than turn against each other. Their friends had tried to persuade them to at least make an effort, since it was just for practice, but to no avail.

When the pair entered the main chamber, they immediately noticed a change. The lights had dimmed all around the large dome, and there were temporary pillars everywhere, presumably to provide cover. As they walked in, their instructor silently handed them training sabers. Although non-lethal, the weapons could definitely cause burns and bruises.

"Alright you degenerates, you leftovers of the primordial soup! Consider this as much a punishment as it is a test," Shiva hissed. "You get to team up today. Against any and all opponents." Her voice was a mix between a snake and a chalkboard. "Consider it an honor to train before ME, a descendant of the glorious Arkanians!" The twins stood in uncertainty for a moment before hearing the words "Begin training" snarled from an unknown location.

The twins went back to back and activated their lightsabers. The only thing they could hear was the hum of their blades. Then, all around them, their friends appeared from the shadows.

"We don't want to do this, but she said she will do the same to all of us if we don't. We will make this quick. Just submit quickly ok?" Cameron called out shakily. The twins were horribly outnumbered.

"Let's stop talking. If I go down I'm gonna make it a show." Malakia announced, taking a Djem So saber stance to counter any comers. Everyone knew Malakia practiced with his saber the most, with almost unmatched skill. Cameron was the closest to him, with his physical strength making him difficult to beat. He was seconded by Ethan and John.

"Suit yourself," John said. He was the first to run up and attack Ethan. While not quite as skilled at swordplay as his brother, Ethan's nature was more attuned to the force. He ducked as Malakia blocked Johns saber, the blade stopping a centimeter above Ethan's head. Then, as Cameron charged in to hit Malakia's back, Ethan rolled back and blocked Cameron so the opponents were face to face. Then, both twins kicked their attackers away back into the circle.

Suddenly, all of the students charged at Ethan and Malakia. All they could see were blurs of light and faces of regret.

Their arms, legs, chest, and faces burned from the bombardment of attacks. Seeing their pain, everyone let up for a moment. Malakia picked Ethan up from a kneeling position. They both were breathing heavily.

"Is that all? I expected more from you two." Shiva called out. "I guess that's what I get for training trash like you! It's no wonder you didn't have a father, he would be disappointed in you." Shiva hit low. Her words stung in the twins minds. The abuse flowed through their thoughts and into their anger was channeled into their sabers, making them a whirlwind of pain. Their friends pleaded with them to stop and calm down but it did nothing to cease the rage that boiled within them.

In the midst of the chaos, Ethan felt a light touch on his arm. He knew it must be Grace, as there was only one of the group small and quiet enough to enter his defenses undetected.

"No." Ethan heard the girl's firm, yet kind voice piercing through the red curtain over his mind, and slowed slightly.

"Give me your sword. Let it go." Somehow, Grace's whisper was louder than the roar inside him. "Trust me."

Smoothly, without a break in the fighting, Ethan handed off his saber to Grace and moved so he would be shielded between her and his twin. He knelt down with shaking hands, trying desperately to get a hold on his dark emotions.

When he looked up, he was astonished to see that the girl was holding her own saber in her right hand and his in her left, fending off the boys with twice the efficiency.

After a small break in the fighting Malakia almost smacked her to the ground. His eyes a strange yellow color, he looked at his brother, then back at the girl helping him. For a moment, the two locked blades, but after the next wave of attacks he managed to turn around and fight with her in the same manner he had alongside his brother.

"What is this?!" Shiva shrieked, coming down from an observation area and entering the arena. "Did I say you could rest? Did I say, wench, that you could help the bastard twins?"

The rest of the pupils stopped fighting in disbelief. Shiva hardly ever came down.

"Why would you do this?" the teacher continued, "you have no relation to them! I order you to continue as their opponent! And use one of my approved fighting styles, where did you even learn that?!" She approached the group, leaning in close.

Slowly, Grace lowered her sabers. She looked around the room, defiantly meeting the eye of each student.

"How can you say that we have no relation? We have been training together for five years!" The girl seemed to be speaking as much to her friends as to her instructor. "WE ARE ALL BROTHERS! It is YOU that is our enemy!"

"I refuse to fight my friends, this is tearing us apart!" Colton said as he turned his saber off.

"You are no trainer, just a drill Sergeant that needs a nap." Cameron was now trying to get under her skin. No one really liked his jokes, but Shiva hated them the most.

Since Grace had said something to her, everyone's courage was bolstered. They all talked bad behind her back, few had ever said something to her face. Until now.

Shiva's eyes gleamed with rage, and with an almost inhuman strength, she ripped the training sabers out of Grace's hands and kicked her to the floor.

"You WORMS!" Shiva spun back to the twins. "I was right about you, you can't even fight without the help of a girl. ALL OF YOU, YOU ARE WEAK!"

Whatever control the twins had gotten back snapped, and anger grew in the other boys as well.

"WE'LL SEE WHO'S WEAK!" Ethan yelled and lunged at Shiva. Some of the other students followed suit.

"STOP!" A voice called out suddenly. The lights turned on all the way, and everyone stopped moving. The voice sounded weird and gravely, almost like a popping candy.

"Wrong, this is. Hate, you used. Not the way of Jedi it is." A small figure on what appeared to be hover chair approached them.

"Shiva, Meet with council, you will. Pushed these young ones too much you have. New master will train."

He bowed his head and left the room with Shiva following obediently after him.

"What. Was. That?" Asked Colton, everyone taking a step back from the duo.

"I… I don't really know." Ethan replied. "She mentioned our dad and called us weak. I guess we couldn't take it." Looking at his hands, he regretted how much he just let go if the control he had been working so hard to achieve.

"We need to get a lid on this I believe." Malakia replied, "That was not supposed to happen, and if she can make us go crazy by just bringing up dad, then we seriously need a better why to channel that."

"Well, that was horrible," Will announced.

"Yeah," Grace stood up and dusted herself off. "But at least Shiva's gone."

...

"I am going to meditate brother. Please don't overwork yourself training and don't hurt Cameron this time." Ethan told Malakia, concerned for both of them after the previous day's events.

"I'll try. It's Cameron and William together today so it should be fun." Malakia left to practice some more.

Then, a group of friends approached Ethan.

"Hey Ethan, me and Grace and Colton wanted to ask you something." Tyler said, with the other two standing next to him.

"Yeah what do you need?" Ethan wondered, setting aside his training gear to meditate.

"Can we... join you?"

Ethan turned to look at them. He tried to stare at them to see if they were sincere. Not only was meditating a personal thing for Ethan, but he had never meditated with someone else, let alone three others.

"Sure I guess. We will need to sit in a square and be quiet. Have any of you meditated before?"

"I have. I told them what to do before hand." Grace chimed in. Ethan could feel an odd feeling from her, like not good or bad. Neutral. Colton had not been too interested, he mostly was just hanging out with Tyler.

"Can group meditation even work? I have heard of the council doing that but can we?" Colton asked. He had strangely healed quicker than the rest from the trading session. He seemed more refreshed and stable as well.

"It should. Come, let's begin." Ethan was eager to start.

...

"OW! That hurt! Let up will y'a?" Cameron began to whine. After about an hour of sparring he was starting to get sore. Even when John had joined in he thought some of the injury would be directed at the other boy, but no. He still got hit by everyone.

"Sorry, I couldn't hit Malakia because William was in the way." John retorted.

"Quit being a baby." Cameron the proceeded to smack John in between his eyes with the stick sword they were using.

"Y'all quit arguing. I beat William again. You should train a little more dude. I think you value blasters more than a saber." Malakia said picking William off the ground and dusting him off.

It was sunny outside. The training ground they were at had a beautiful view of Coruscant. The ground was grass and dirt, which reminded the group of Naboo. Most of them came from the beautiful planet.

"Yeah, I don't like being close to people, blaster would fix that." William replied.

"Agreed. Do you have to be so loud?" Victor said, as he emerged from a bush reading a holocron.

"Sorry, we can try. I think I'm done for the day anyways." Malakia said, slowly walking from the group.

"You should try to meditate a little dude. I heard it can help with your anger issu-" John started.

Malakia turned to John and pushed him onto the ground with the force. "I don't need you to tell me what to do. I'll go and find some other way, I don't need your opinion." Malakia was now glaring at them, malice filling the air.

"Ok, sheesh, I was only trying to help." John replied picking himself up.

"Don't." Malakia said as he turned around to stalk away.

"Wait, I may have an idea," William interjected. "There is a saber style card Juyo. It's said to use a well of emotions to make a serious of fast, unchained attacks to not give your opponent time for defense. Consequently it provides no defense at all."

"There is also Vaapad." A figure came up to them from around the corner. The brown skinned, bald man with a deep, melodious voice easily held everyone's attention. "But I have never found anyone able to stay sane with that method. All my pupils have gone to the dark side using it. I urge you, be careful using Juyo. It can be devastating."

"And who the heck are you?" John asked asked sarcastically.

"For your information, I, am Mace Windu. I have been chosen as your new instructor."

...

"Ethan?" Ethan had almost completely tuned out. If it weren't for Grace grabbing his arm and slightly shaking him he wouldn't have noticed they were getting ready to board the transport ship to enter the separatist base.

"I'm good, thanks." He replied to her. The last thing he needed was people worrying about him. They all knew that he would not be the same after this mission. None of them would. They have already lost two of their original group to this Sith Lord.

"You ready? This is probably the biggest assignment we have ever had." Tyler asked them as the sat down on the transport. Ethan was standing with Victor and John holding on the railing.

"Yep, let's go." Ethan replied, with the usual smile he gave when he was about to do something difficult but wanted everyone to think he was confident still.

"Hey how much do I get paid after this?" Victor asked Ethan jokingly.

"Live, and you set the terms." Ethan told him with a chuckle.

"NOW WE ARE TALKING!" Victor began fist pumping out of joy. This was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The he transport ship swayed a little as it neared the ground, and Victor snored peacefully. He woke up to Grace shaking him roughly.

"HELLO!" She shouted, "It's time for us to go. You and I are going to drop down, walk about half a mile, and sneak in through the air ducts."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Victor rubbed his eyes. "Why do we have to be the ones to cut off the power and let everyone in again?"

Grace sighed. "We are the only ones small enough. We've been over this. I'm short and you're skinny, no one else here would fit into the ducts. You do the hacking, make sure the lights stay on and but door locks are turned off. I keep watch for guards. We are in and out as soon as possible. We will circle back around to join Beta team and the main fighting once the doors are open."

"Ok, ok." Victor sighed. He was not looking forward to the nitty-gritty portion of this mission. Especially since a job he had in Naboo went sour after and electrical discharge shutdown transformers for a whole district, because he fell on top of the. If it wasn't for his insulated mandalorian armor, he would be dead.

Ethan leaned over the edge with his hand raised, ready to give the signal for the drop. Grace and Victor stood ready, Victor activating his jet pack.

"NOW!" Ethan swung his hand down and the duo leaped from the metal craft. They were maybe eighty meters in the air, Grace could easily use the force to stabilize her landing, but Victor had to time his jet pack just right. Fifty, forty, thirty, meters. His helmet gave him real time feedback on the situation. Told him his distance from the closest surface he could see, his heart rate (eighty beats per minute), and the state of his armor. It even had a day planner, mostly because if he didn't have one he wouldn't get anything done. Grace just glided down and before she hit the ground, she appeared to slow down as she straightened herself out to softly land. Twenty, fifteen meters. Almost to the ground, Victor activated his jetpack to slow him down just enough to stick the super hero landing.

"Seriously?" Grace asked Victor sarcastically.

"Yes. It is how you must always land in my opinion. It can cause FEAR! And it looks AWESOME! Duh!" Victor had replied, excited he didn't fall over this time. He usually did, especially if there were any females present.

"Let's just get on with the mission." Grace commanded as she turned and began jogging toward the base.

When the pair arrived, they stealthily crept along the edge of the wall. They had chosen an out-of the-way supply building that would not be heavily guarded but was still connected to the main ventilation system. Gesturing to a vent on the side of the structure, Victor took out some tools from the storage pouches on his jetpack and unscrewed the cover.

"Ladies first," he whispered, pointing to the dark tunnel.

"Gee, thanks." Grace rolled her eyes, but crawled in, holding a flashlight in her mouth and using her hands and feet to scoot along on her chest and stomach. "I better not get stuck," she grumbled, squirming in the uncomfortably tight space. "Come on Victor, you're lucky right now that you're not a girl!"

Victor followed, chuckling a little under his breath. He fit fine, his wiry frame seeming to blend into the straight, rectangular vent system.

Inside, it was hard to hear one another above the hum of machinery. Victor hoped they didn't get lost. The two had planned a route beforehand using the stolen plans, but Victor wasn't sure if they had been reading the map exactly right. At least they knew the general direction, and could always try to follow the sound if they needed to.

Grace inched forward in the darkness for what seemed like an hour. The darkness and noise made everything seem dreamlike. As she mechanically continued forward, she started to think of everything that had led up to this moment. One of the fateful events that had brought them to this place was a terrible vision Ethan had one day while he, Colton, Tyler, and Grace had one of their regular group meditation times….

Ethan walked across a long platform in the rain. He was tired, Ethan could feel the rain and the exhaustion that had begun to set in. He could also feel his friends with him. Whenever they meditated together they had a kind of mental link. But nothing quite like this had ever happened before.

On the other side of the platform, a hooded figure in black Sith robes stood with his back turned. As Ethan approached, the Sith Lord turned and activated his lightsaber, a cruel, curved hilt held the red blade that had already killed one of their group. As he brought up, it illuminated his features, revealing that his mouth and entire left side of his face was covered with armored plating as if it he had been in a horrible accident. The right side of his face on the other hand, was disfigured with scars. His yellow eye glared at Ethan.

Ethan didn't know how this was happening. He could sense that his friends were watching, but they were not really there. It was HIS vision, and only he could affect it. Afraid of what might be going on, yet drawn as if by an inborn force, Ethan met the gaze of the sith.

In a raspy voice through a rebreather, the Sith Lord spoke to him.

"At last, Brother."

Ethan jolted out of his meditation to a Grace shaking him. Immediately the heat from the planet Tatooine hit him in the face.

"What's going on?"

"Are you ok?"

"What were you thinking?"

His friends crowded around him, all looking very concerned.

Shaken, but not wanting to worry anyone, Ethan tried to brush it off. "We'll talk about it later guys, but we have to get going. This was just supposed to be a quick meditation to get our composure before the mission!" He jumped up, eager to begin.

This was their first mission as Knights. They had been sent to investigate a separatist factory and take it out if necessary.

As Ethan entered the makeshift command post, which was put into the side of a mountain, he began assessing all of the information they had gathered while they waited for Tyler. Tyler had adapted to using the force to enhance his natural stealth. Since he was used to running long distances and jumping to almost unnatural heights, he used the force to increase his abilities, making him the best scout out of the group. Tyler soon appeared in the doorway and approached the table.

"I scoped the place out. Absolutely nothing." He shrugged.

"You're kidding?" Malakia asked him while putting his lightsaber together.

"Nope. I didn't see anything outside, and scanners showed nothing. Hell, I even knocked on the door." He slumped into a chair.

"Do you think they gave us a filler mission? One that wasn't an actual mission?" Cameron asked. They were all hoping that this would be their chance to show they were no longer kids. But William wasn't gonna let them give up.

"Come on guys! Let's go check it out anyways, maybe we can get the location of another base. Then we won't go back empty handed." He smiled, trying to lift everyone's spirits. The young jedi looked at each other, nodding in agreement.

"Then let's blow it up!" John exclaimed as he tossed Tyler some explosives.

"Come on guys let's go!" Colton shouted as a sprang out the door.

They traveled up to the base, and sure enough, no one else was there. The door slid right open for them. As they walked into the manufacturing building filled with conveyor belts and rusted droids, there were no signs of life, nor running machinery. Every step they took, they could feel the crunch of old technology and tarnished metal. The place smelled old. As if they were visiting their grandparents. But that didn't make them comfortable. The deactivated droids glared at them from their broken down perches. They almost seemed to whisper to them-

"Leave"

"Jedi scum."

" Die."

"You will never know your fathers."

This made them feel very uneasy, almost like a presence was here. Watching them.

A presence.

Ethan jumped. That's what he was feeling. Someone was trying to get into their heads and find out their secrets. And this person was powerful.

"Stop guys, someone is here. We need to leave." Ethan told them as he started backing up. The others were confused, bombarding him with questions: "What's wrong?" "Are you ok?"

"Wait. I feel it to. Get into formation!" Malakia moved to Ethan's back. Seeing his brother turn on his curved lightsaber made Ethan flinch slightly. But nonetheless he was thankful for his company.

"I don't see or hear any one. Are you two ok?" Victor asked, while still joining their battle formation. The group formed a defensive circle, each taking a stance that would, if necessary, deflect blaster fire and/or saber attacks.

It was eerily quiet for a moment. Then suddenly, a loud voice boomed within their skulls.

"Fools. To think they could send new blood here again!" A deep voice resonated in their bones. They all scanned the area for the mysterious person. It was as if they were having a mass hallucination. Victor and William put their sabers away and picked up old blaster rifles.

"Maybe we will get some distance on whoever it is." William explained.

"Show yourself coward!" Cameron yelled out. Everyone was uneasy.

"You don't want that. But if you insist." Then a masked hooded figure dropped from the ceiling. He started his lightsaber up and held it far from his side, as if he was waiting to cut someone's hand off.

"You will amount to nothing, and all of you will die here. You think the order cares for you? They sent you to your doom." He hissed at them.

Cameron, John, and Malakia all looked hurt by this. Like they were contemplating his words.

"Don't listen to him, he is trying to get under your skin. Block him out!" Grace tried to snap them out of their despair.

Then Malakia charged him so fast he looked like a blur. He would have severed the Sith Lord at the neck in the blink of an eye. As he swung to decapitate the masked figure, the enemy brought up his saber at the last second and locked it with Malakia's. Then the Sith Lord pushed him off and begun to hold him in air with the force, choking him. He slammed him on a nearby wall and threw him at the group. John caught him, and Colton began to heal him.

"We need to leave now!" Tyler yelled to the group while spastically running at them. In the confusion, he had set the explosives, and the group now had less than three minutes to get out.

"We will meet again!" The Sith Lord left the group, jumping from platform to platform, escaping full view with a malicious laugh. Malakia began to limp in his direction.

"Are you mad!? We need to leave now!" Ethan said as he grabbed his brother by the collar. His brother turned while swinging his saber, Ethan barely had the time to block it. With a gasp, Ethan met his brother's gaze and saw that his eyes were glowing bright yellow.

"I will end him! He will die! And YOU will not stop me! I will have revenge!" Malakia was now fighting his brother. The others had all made it to the exit except for Grace and Cameron. Both were trying to call for the twins to come and help them.

"Why are you doing this? We will die! Come to your senses!" Ethan yelled, trying to reason with him. Then, as if on cue, Cameron came around and smacked Malakia on the head, rendering him unconscious.

"We have less than a minute now, come on." Cameron said, picking up the limp body of Malakia. They sprinted to the exit, and as the passed the doors, the building began to erupt in flames. The blast sent them flying from the site, a solid thirty feet. Colton quickly began to heal the survivors.

At the command post, Victor and William met up together. They had an issue to discus.

"You ever feel like we weren't meant for this?" Victor had asked Will. They both were having doubts about being Jedi. They were clumsy with sabers, and didn't really have any aptitude for the force.

"My mom always told be I was very good with our hunting blaster. That seems to be what I'm good with. I am so afraid of cutting my hand off with this thing." William exclaimed as he patted his saber.

"Thing is, I'm afraid of going to the counsel alone. Would they understand?" Victor asked as leaned against the railing overlooking the canyon ridge the were close to. Looking over Tatooine, it looked peaceful. You could forget about the gangsters, slavers, and psychos for just a moment. The nighttime always seems to calm everything.

"We will find out together, once we are back at the temple. I promise." William had said, clasping Victor on the shoulder. Victor had never told anyone of his Mandalorian descent before, mostly because he didn't think anyone would approve. They got a bad rep for being notoriously barbaric, and have a past fighting Jedi. But maybe he wasn't made for this. Maybe he could….

No, Victor thought. The idea of becoming a bounty hunter might be silly. But then, maybe it could be a good choice, working on his own terms, bringing in bad guys, making money. It was an interesting thought.

"Will…" Victor hesitated, "will you… come with me and be a bounty hunter? I think that job would suit us better, and I want to still have a friend who will have my back out there…"

William thought for a moment, and then nodded. "That's a good idea actually. I think we are supposed to."

"Alright,I think I'll go to sleep. Thanks Will." Victor told him. The duo left to go back to the camp, ready to start on a new path in the morning.

"What is your problem? You could have died!" Ethan yelled at his brother. Malakia was now walking through the training area, packing up to find the Sith Lord. The thing that scared Ethan the most had been his brother's yellow eyes.

"Oh, SHUT UP! I will end him. He said he knew our father. I will get answers!" Malakia shouted at him, furiously trying to gather his supplies.

"You'll be killed!

"Stop pretending you care! You're just afraid of me!"

Ethan took a step back. Malakia was starting to glare at Ethan.

"Don't look surprised! He told me the truth. YOU'RE ALL AFRAID OF ME!" He began to get into his fighter.

"Malakia, wait! He is lying to you! He is manipulating you!" Ethan said, pulling Malakia out of the fighter. Malakia swung with his saber and Ethan narrowly dodged it. Malakia began taking swing after swing, trying to hit him. Ethan activated half of his saber and began blocking him. He wouldn't be able to get help for a bit. Their friends were on the other side of the room. The twins parried and swiped at each other, but Ethan only acted on pure defense. He didn't want to hurt his brother. Then, a malicious laugh came from behind the fighter. The Sith Lord appeared from the shadows. He walked right behind Malakia.

"See? He fears you. He won't ever respect you. You must cut him down. Become the legacy you were meant to be." The Sith Lord whispered in his ear.

"I'm sorry brother." Malakia pushed his twin back and started to come down on Ethan's neck with the saber. Ethan closed his eyes, waiting for the end. Suddenly, a loud boom sounded as a gas canister exploded near them, sending flames and shrapnel everywhere. Ethan, who was kneeling on the ground, avoided most of the debris, but Malakia wasn't so lucky. When Ethan looked up, half of Malakia's face was ablaze. He was screaming in pain, cursing the flames. Ethan turned to see Victor, John, and Cameron coming to his aid. Malakia flailed at the flames, which also had enveloped his arms, and finally succeeded in putting them out. He turned his disfigured, melting face and glared at the group.

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" He screeched as he rushed forward to attack. But before he struck a blow, the Sith Lord grabbed his arm.

"Not now. Come, apprentice, we have work to do." Then, in a flash, the pair were teleported from the scene of the accident.

Ethan began to sob. The rest of the group had heard the commotion and were now standing around, trying to console him. Grace wrapped her arms around him as everyone else tried to figure out what had happened. It seemed that a stray blaster ray from the practice range had skinned a gas canister, but they were not sure who exactly had hit it. They left quickly after, eager to leave the place and collect their thoughts.

"Don't worry, we will save him. I know it." Grace told Ethan as he layed there in his room. They had just gotten back, and Grace slipped into his room before he could lock it.

"He is gone. I've never not been with him. What do I even do? Ethan said in despair.

"Train. Get better. Help the order. That's all we can do. But I promise you, we will get him back." She said, holding his shoulder.

"We can try I guess. Thank you for coming, but I just need to be alone for a little while" Ethan told her.

Grace nodded in understanding and walked away, leaving Ethan to meditate. His friends all waited outside his room as Grace gave them the rundown of the whole situation. They began to worry.

"What are we gonna do? Malakia has gone dark side." John said. They were all in disbelief at the entire situation.

"Victor and William are gone, Malakia is a Sith, and Ethan is in seclusion. We are needed around the order now more than ever. We just need to try to find Malakia." Cameron said.

They decided not to give up. As they went their separate ways, Grace and Colton walked to the training grounds together.

"Ethan is not well. I sensed it. Him and his brother both have something wrong inside them. I don't know what. It bothers me." Colton said, as they strode next to each other.

"We will just need to be there for him. And his brother, when the time comes." Grace told him, trying to sound hopeful. The last thing they needed was Ethan going dark side too.

"I know. It's gonna be one long ride" Colton sighed.

"This is the place. Pass me the tools so I can get the thing open."

Grace told Victor. They were now over the air vent leading to the mass transformer. They had to disable it to shut down doors and security. She spotted four droids in here, and one commander. As she unscrewed the vent, Victor began priming and EMP grenade. She turned to give the signal.

"Ready? On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark!" She counted in a hushed whisper. As she punched open the vent, Victor threw the grenade, deactivating all the droids. Then, Grace dropped down, rolled forward towards the commander, and held her sabers in a V around his neck.

"I wouldn't move if I were you. She is a tad jumpy." Victor grinned. He began ripping out some wires from the droids to make sure they stayed down.

"What do you want?" The commander stuttered. He was shaking slightly, weather from rage or fear was unclear.

"Codes to the terminal to switch off the power. Now." She demanded. They were starting to run out of time.

"Seven, nine, eight, Oscar, Bravo, five, dash, Theta, Gamma, Alpha. That's the unlock code. Please just leave me be." It was fear.

Grace showed no emotion, but wanted to chuckle slightly at how pathetic he was.

"You're no longer useful." Victor decided, as he shot the commander with an electric bolt from his wrist. The man slumped over, but was still breathing.

"Next time, warn me if you're doing that." Grace grumbled, brushing at her arm where she could feel that the tingle of the electricity had just grazed her.

As Victor began to turn off the power, Grace kept watch in the hallway. The man began to slightly wake up, but Grace kicked him in the face with enough force to knock him out.

"We are done here. Let's go." Victor tuned on his communicator to talk to Ethan.

"Power will be off in a few seconds" As if on cue, the lock mechanism power shut down and all doors opened.

"Good work. Meet up with beta team and get ready for the main assault." Ethan commanded. The communicator turned off.

"I will never be used to him in charge." Victor sighed.

"This mission is personal. He is the only one who can truly lead it." Grace said in a melancholy tone. She new someone would likely not be making it back today. Too much was riding on this mission for there not to be casualties.

"Beta team, wait for my signal!" Ethan shouted amongst the clones and Jedi formed in ranks. They were stationed across a large plateau, empty and devoid of cover. Droids began assembling at the front, preparing. They needed to go now. Grace ran up next to him and Victor arrived as well, his jet pack throwing pebbles as he landed. They went to where the flank was weakest, ready to fight. Ethan took one last look at his friends. If this plan didn't work, this was the last time he would see any of them.

"CHARGE!" Ethan's cry resonated through the area. And with one large yell in response, the mob of blue and white washed over the plateau like a tidal wave.


	3. Chapter 3

_Fools_.

Malakia sat facing the massive windows at the top of his command post. The Jedi were foolish to think they could take this building from him! The sith slowly rose, turning to a table covered with gear. He took up his rebreather, which he had needed to wear during any kind of physical exertion since the explosion accident. The heavy apparatus made a very audible exhale, which sounded like air exiting an air lock. After fastening the mask, he donned his dark cloak which was fitted with heavy mandalorian armor. He saw his reflection in the glass of the windows and sighed at the disfigured metal plate of armor on the left side of his face. What at first was a temporary aesthetic was now fused to his skull after a fight against one of his old friends. He clenched his fist. _Them._ The reason for his suffering. He would defeat them. This was evident. He then sensed the presence of another.

"Sir! They are breaking through our defenses. You need to leave! Ware running out of, GAH-" the commander was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of air escaping his lungs in a futile fight to survive the vice Malakia had created around his throat. Malakia hadn't even turned to look at the man.

"Panic is a sign of weakness." _Hisss._ Malakia took a breath. "Are you weak? Because only the strong survive." He stated in a cold, calm tone. As the man gasped for breath, another commander came in and spoke up.

"Sir, you ship is ready. The battle droids are on standby." He explained, making no eye contact with the choking commander next to him.

"Good. You just got a promotion." _Crack._ The victim slumped onto the ground. The other commander made no movement to interfere. He just snapped a simple "Yes sir" and went on his way. Malakia followed. As he looked back out the window one last time, he locked gazes with his brother who was running by below. A pang of guilt resonated through his body. Then, his old master's voice whispered into his ear, reminding him about all of his friends.

 _He hates you now._

 _You made that one a monster._

 _The girl is just a pawn._

 _The bounty hunter only cares for money._

 _That one, he will make no difference, no matter who he heals._

 _They were all afraid of you. Make them feel the pain and anger you feel._

He clenched his fist and punched the window with the full force of his hate, creating large gashes radiating across window pane. He turned and began walking to his ship, waiting to meet his brother. He was eager to show him his new project.

As he passed one of the officers, he gave the long awaited command.

"Release project Nemesis." He ordered, his rebreather hissing.

* * *

"Ethan! We are doing our best to stop any transport ships from escaping, but they are fighting like bats out of hell! I think he is going to try to make a run for it!" Tyler screamed over the comms. The battle had raged for some time now. Many clones were lying on the ground wounded or dead. The fighters had made it to their first checkpoint, the main gates, and decided to fortify and regroup. They were winning regardless.

Some of Malakia's commanders had come out and started to fight along with their droid army, and in response jedi fighter ships had made airstrikes in key areas to thin the herd.

"We need to push through after the next airstrike. Their defenses should be broken by then." Victor told Ethan. He peeked over the cover just to duck back down immediately due to suppressive fire.

"Alright. Omega this is Knight. Come in Omega." Ethan called on the comms.

"Knight this Omega we read you loud and clear, Over." A response came from the fighter squadron.

"I need another air strike on the enemy position. Immediately. Over."

"Their AA guns will rip us to shreds if we get any closer. Can you take those out first? Over."

"Roger. Stand by Omega." Ethan looked up to the massive gun atop the building. He had absolutely no plan as to how he would get up there. He couldn't jump that high, going straight would be suicide, and there were no visible way around.

"Victor, William, can you guys see a way up there?" Ethan had asked his jet packed friends.

"We could fly you up there. We would go straight over the enemy." William proposed. Ethan thought to himself... _this_ _idea is so stupid, it might work._

"Fine. Let's go."

They gathered as close as they could to the tower while avoiding the front lines of fighting. As they were walking, the rain began to pour heavily, limiting their vision. It beat against them pushing them down.

"Ready?" Victor asked his fellow bounty hunter. The pair stood on each side of Ethan, locking arms tightly.

"GO!" Ethan yelled against the storm. They shot up at such a breakneck speed, with cover from the rain, so no one really noticed them or tried to shoot them down. The group made it up to a platform within a matter of seconds. On the platform was the AA gun, along with a dark ship that shone like obsidian.

"Go plant charges and take out the gun, hurry before they-" _HISS._

Ethan stopped. He couldn't move. He remembered the terrible vision he had three years ago. He dreaded it. He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't. He turned around to see the robed man he knew too well. The figure's red lightsaber flashed on as he turned. Standing maybe twenty feet from Ethan, he brought his saber up illuminating his pale, scared face and metallic armor, and uttered the dreaded words.

"At last, Brother."

After what seemed like ages, Ethan finally gathered the courage to speak. He approached his brother, standing just far enough away that he was out of saber reach.

"Malakia… please. I know that I have tried talking to you before and it has never worked. But this ends today. It pains me to say this, but I will not let you slaughter any more of our friends! This is your last chance for forgiveness. Come with me now, and all will be forgotten. It can be like when we were all kids training at the academy. Remember when Shiva made us fight our friends, and in the end they decided to defend us? Remember how we were all bonded together against the world, no matter what? And if you won't listen to reason from your family of jedi, the people you grew up with, at least listen to me, your own flesh and blood! We are brothers! Twins! Remember when we would refuse to fight one another in training?"

A glint came into Malakia's one visible eye. For a moment, Ethan was hopeful. Then, he heard his brother chuckling darkly.

"You're so pathetic!" Malakia gasped through his rebreather. "You speak of 'family' and of 'ending this'? Such delusions! Family is but a lie, a weakness. If I had fought you like Shiva asked, I would have been stronger. But I have seen the power of the darkside. Friends are just something that can be used against you. Kindness always runs sour in the end. How many times have your 'friends' had bitter arguments? No, the strongest emotion is not love… like your little girlfriend, don't think I can't see that… but HATE. Hate is far more powerful. For example, what do you think the jedi council would say if you told them how you really feel about her? Oh, and your bounty hunter friends, you think they care about you? They just want your money. The healer? He needs you for protection. The fighters? You give them power, an army. You're not a leader, you're a PAWN! Can't you see that you're being used? What would you be to them if you couldn't offer them anything? I have a better deal. YOU join ME, and I will forgive your stupidity. I will teach you the power of the dark side, remove your weakness, and we can rule the galaxy together! We would be unstoppable!"

"NO!" Ethan shouted. "You are WRONG! I will not let you destroy us! THIS ENDS NOW! Come fight me like a man!"

Malakia turned off his saber, turning his back on his brother and walking towards his ship.

"Stop!" Ethan ran up to him and spun him around by his cloak. "I SAID TURN AND FIGHT!"

Malakia shook his twin off, turning his cruel yellow gaze onto him. "I thought you said you wanted it to be like when we were kids? I won't fight you... yet. You made your choice, and tonight is not the end. It is only the beginning. I won't fight you… not until I have taken everything from you. Not until all your friends have turned against you, you have been cast out of the jedi order, and you own nothing but your clothes and your saber. THEN, I will not need to fight you. You will throw yourself onto my blade in despair, begging for the end, because you will finally realize that I was right all along."

The sith lord took a step back. "Call them. Call them now and we'll see if they actually care."

In a daze, for reasons he did not quite understand, he found himself meeting his brother's yellow gaze and slowly bringing up his comms. "Colton, Tyler, John, Grace… everyone. Report to the roof immediately. I need you."

For a moment, little stars blurred on the edges of his vision. Then, he heard a loud explosion, snapping him back into focus. During the exchange, Victor and William had succeeded in destroying the anti-aircraft guns.

Ethan was now shaking with sadness and rage. He could not believe how his brother had betrayed him.

Victor and Will ran over to their leader. "Ethan, are you alright? We took out the guns and then heard your call…" They stopped short when they saw the confrontation taking place.

"Did you just enter my MIND?! Did you really just manipulate me into calling everyone up here? You'd better not kill another one of my friends, and you'd better not EVER touch my consciousness with that evil force of yours again!"

Tyler leapt from below, using the force to propel himself onto the roof. Grace climbed the wall. Colton and Tyler had stealthily commandeered a small enemy craft and flown it up, landing nearby. John had intimidated an opposing soldier into relinquishing his jetpack and rode it up.

Ethan and Malakia were locked in a silent struggle, their eyes eerily still, focused on one another.

 _Accept the truth. Use your hate._

 _Get out of my head!_

 _You know you want to kill me._

 _I would never…_

 _Oh, but you would!_

 _I can't…_

 _Yes, stop struggling. Let it in._

 _Don't kill my friends…_

 _Me? I'm not going to… YOU are._

 _No!_

 _Yes! It's your fault! You weren't strong enough! You called them here._

 _Traitor! Evil! Liar!_

 _It's true. Everything I have said. Your need of them is going to kill them._

With all of his strength, Ethan pushed his brother away.

 _GET AWAY FROM ME!_

Everyone saw the twins stumble back, the connection breaking. Ethan's eyes were bloodshot, and almost seemed to be glowing red. His friends began to run to him.

Suddenly, a figure dropped from a tower above. As it landed, the platform shook and creaked.

Malakia looked at the group and grinned. "Say hello to my new project, I call him Nemesis."

The figure radiated power and strength, yet was familiar. He was _too_ familiar. Malakia retreated to his ship and began to take off. The Jedi all gathered up and faced down the towering figure. At that moment he activated his sabers. One regular sized on, one Shonto blade.

 _NO._ Ethan's mind began screaming. He knew why he remembered him. He knew why he dreaded him so much. He knew what had happened to their comrade long ago, in that dreadful temple.

Ethan asked the figure in a shaky voice,

"Cameron?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

5 years ago

"Is everyone ready?" Ethan asked his friends.

They had been preparing to attack a separatist base on Agamar, a barren, rocky planet on the outer rim. Victor and William, acting as bounty hunters there, had discovered the location and brought the information to the jedi.

"Roger, roger," Victor sarcastically mimicked the response of a B1 battle droid.

"Shut up," Tyler grouched, "we'll be hearing enough of that soon enough when we have to fight those metal bastards!"

"Oh sorry, did I offend your new General Ethan?"

"Guys, can we please just focus on the mission," Will protested.

"He's right," Grace agreed, "we need to stay sharp. We are about to land."

The ship's engine whirred as the Low Altitude Assault Transporter filled with the young jedi knights and clones touched down on the cold stone. The doors opened and the troops moved into action.

Hundreds of B1 droids were already pouring out of the base, which was carved into a mountainside. Snow whirled around them as they rushed forward firing their blasters. They were not quite in range yet, so the clones had just enough time to form ranks and prepare to fight.

Cameron drew his green blades, one regular lightsaber and one shonto. Grace activated hers similarly, except she had two standard sabers which both glinted purple. Ethan wielded two lightsabers that were attached at the hilts with a blue color. Tyler had smaller wrist-mounted sabers that were green. Colton brought out his single blue saber. William and Victor drew their guns before Victor decided to turn on his wrist mounted flamethrower.

Standing together, the group looked very intimidating. But that did not appear to bother the droids. They arrived in range, forcing the jedi to use their sabers to block the flying lasers. Some of the clones fell around them, but they continued forward. As the droids got closer, the jedi began deflecting their shots back to hit them. The snow on the battlefield began to turn red and brown from the trampling feet, fallen bodies, and broken droids.

Through the din of the battle, Cameron signaled to Ethan. Moving over to him, Ethan asked what was wrong.

"I see an unguarded entrance over there to the right," Cameron pointed out.

Shielding his eyes from the elements, Ethan just managed to make out a small, well-hidden cave opening.

"Good find!" He smiled, "maybe this battle can turn in our favor after all. The others will have to cover us, but maybe you, me, and Colton can make it inside."

They rallied the other jedi, dropping behind the battle for a moment to explain the plan. After everyone had heard, they moved out.

The trio stealthily ran towards the opening while their friends flanked the droids on the left side, diverting their attention. Ethan, Colton, and Cameron made it under the outcropping, congratulating one another briefly before they stopped short.

Two giant symbols were carved into the stone on either side of the doorway. They looked like large black triangles with a red eye-like shape in the middle.

"Uh, I think this was a mistake," Cameron decided, "but we're here now. We have to figure out what this is."

Ethan nodded in agreement, signaling the other two to be quiet and follow him. Colton and Cameron snuck forward with Ethan.

"Woah." Colton gasped as they entered a large cavern that appeared to be devoid of life. The rock was all black, and red symbols were painted on the walls. In the center of the cavern was a monolithic black pyramid with a transparent glass upper point. Inside the glass section, a large red crystal glowed.

"It's Kyber crystal." Ethan told his friends. "I can feel it. But it's aligned with the dark side."

Cameron shivered, "I can feel it too. What is it doing here?"

Colton's eyes widened in horror. "I know what this is! My mother used to tell me legends of it! It's like the Great Scourge of Malachor!"

Ethan and Cameron looked at him with confusion.

"Have you never heard the old jedi legend? I always thought it was just a story, but… here we are. The tale says that thousands of years ago the Sith built a superweapon on the planet Malachor. They housed it in a Sith temple, and users of the dark side of the force would come to pay tribute there because of the immense dark strength of the kyber crystal inside. The jedi found out about this and attacked the temple, believing that the sith had plans to destroy the galaxy. During the battle, the weapon was accidentally activated. It killed everyone on the planet, leaving behind only the petrified remains of the sith and jedi. No one has found the site to confirm this, but Ashoka Tano, Kanan Jarrus, and Ezra Bridger are secretly searching for it."

"But… that happened thousands of years ago? On a completely different planet?" Ethan wondered.

"Yes," Colton said, "but if there's one that has only been found once, who's to say that the sith never built another that the jedi never found?"

Suddenly, the group heard the sounding of a retreat.

"Oh no! I should have been out there!" Ethan exclaimed. "I am a general, I should have helped make sure the battle went well!"

"It's ok," Cameron reassured him, "there are other generals there, and the rest of the jedi knights. You did something you thought would help. And we could have stumbled upon something huge here!"

"Yes, but we have to get out of here!" Colton reminded them, "if we don't get to the ships, they will have to leave without us!"

The group turned towards the exit and began to run. Just as they reached the opening of the cave, Cameron stopped. His friends turned to tell him to hurry, then gasped.

A red lightsaber had pierced Cameron through the waist. A cloaked figure with a glowing yellow eye stood hidden in the shadows. Ethan started to run towards his friend and the mysterious sith. But Cameron choked out the word "go."

"Come on Ethan," Colton grabbed Ethan's arm and ran. "Cameron's done. He would want us to live on to avenge him."

Cameron watched his friends escape as he desperately fought to remove himself from the saber.

A voice chuckled, watching him squirm for a while. "You want off? Here you go!" A raspy voice through a rebreather mocked him, finally releasing him.

Cameron found himself flying out of the cave and onto the battlefield. The sith had force pushed him quite a distance. He must have assumed he was bleeding out and dying. Maybe because he was.

Cameron laid on the ground, struggling to get up as he saw the clones and jedi getting into their ships. They couldn't see him through the snow and debris, but thankfully the droids didn't pay much attention to him either.

A small fighter ship landed a few hundred yards away. "Tony, get in!" The pilot opened the cockpit and yelled to another pilot whose ship had been shot down by the AA guns. "I know this is supposed to be a one man ride, but I'll make it work! Get out of that pile of scrap, I'm not leaving you there to die!"

Tony crawled out from where he had been hiding from the droids in the wreckage, holding a broken arm as he dashed toward his friend. The man in the ship stood up and reached towards his buddy. Tony was just about to grab his hand when a droid turned and shot him down.

"TONY N…" The pilot didn't have much time to grieve before another droid sent a laser through his skull and his lifeless body tumbled to the ground.

Cameron knew it was bad, but he wanted to live. He army crawled towards the ship, staying near bodies and debris to hide from the droids. Many of them began to head back inside the base, leaving only a small cleanup crew of droids and separatists to clean up the bodies.

Ha ha! Cameron thought, that Sith underestimated me! He stood on a broken droid and pulled himself into the ship, wincing in pain. He sat down in the cockpit and took off, grinning in triumph. It had not been a good day, but he was alive. He could hear Ethan giving commands trying to organize the retreat. He then heard the radio go off to the sound of Ethan's voice.

"Indigo 9, fall back. Do you copy?"

"You sound so annoying on comms did you know that?" Cameron had remarked.

"Cameron!? How? You know what I don't care, get out of there! Their guns should be offline."

"Roger Roger." He replied jokingly. He began the lift off and was headed out of there. He was going to make it back,

Pow! Cameron felt the ship shake and begin to plummet.

"No no no!" He yelled, "There were no more separatists manning the AA guns! They were all inside or clearing the field!"

HA HA HA!

A dark laugh sounded in Cameron's mind.

Your "friends" have left you. And know, you shall know my pain.

Cameron screamed in terror as his ship hit the earth.

"NO, HOW COULD YOU!?" Ethan was screaming and banging on the window overseeing the planet where he watched one of his closest friends plummet to their death. Grace approached him and put her arm around his shoulders.

"Calm down. Malakia has a lot to answer for, but being angry will not help." She told him.

"Ethan, it's what he wants. He wants you to use your anger. He wants you to come fight him on his terms." William chimed in.

"He will pay, but on the Republic's standards. Tried in a court." Tyler told him. Tyler was currently being patched up by Colton after he took a four inch deep piece of shrapnel to the shoulder. Victor seemed uninterested that his friend died, although Grace could sense his sadness. Everyone's sadness filled the room like a dense smog.

"I hate to ruin the mood, but how much did me and Will get paid? I have another job on Tatooine I can't be late for." Victor butted in.

"You'll get paid in a week, once the paperwork is filled out. I'll let the counsel know you guys were good noodles." Ethan retorted sarcastically. He didn't care for the bounty hunter lifestyle his two friends now led, but was still thankful for their help.

"I need to meditate. Come get me when we are almost home." Ethan then left his friends on the deck and proceeded to his private quarters. He didn't sleep much, which bothered Colton and Grace greatly due to the fact that Colton was Chief Medical Officer. Ethan sat down and emptied his mind, as he began to feel the force flow through him.

"Tyler, next time I say hit the deck, hit it harder than mandalorian armor." Colton scolded as he carefully tried to remove the shrapnel from his shoulder. It had broken into several shards that were burrowing into his arm.

"If I hadn't been in the way, then that droideka would have rekt us pretty hard. I like to see it as 'taking one for the team' in a sense." Tyler retorted through a wince of pain. Colton had attuned to the force quite differently compared to his comrades. He could use it to heal wounds, which made him the medic of their little attack squad.

"Yeah whatever, just don't squirm so much you're making it difficult. I don't want you to heal over these fragments."

As Tyler yelped in a quick burst of pain, John entered the room. He had been on a secret assignment from the Jedi Counsel, and thus was not present for the mission.

"Hey, I heard about Cameron. Have you found his remains yet so we can give him a burial?" He asked.

"No. And it would take a very covert force to even find it. I doubt there is anything left." Tyler said with another wince.

John didn't say it, but he felt guilty. He thought that if he was there maybe he could have saved him, if not taken his place. Then he thought of Malakia. Everyone had hoped that they could bring him back. John did not have that same hope, but he could not openly kill him without orders. Currently, Ethan was in charge because of the fact that it was his brother. Ethan stayed and argued with the counsel for three days straight to get his position.

"Tyler, don't you lead a squad of shadow troopers? We could at least retrieve his body or saber." John mentioned as he leaned against a nearby counter littered with medical equipment.

"I do, but i don't think I am comfortable with endangering them so much. They could die, even if I went with them."

They all wanted to do something. They didn't want to just stand there and twiddle their thumbs thinking oh well maybe next time. Malakia, their friend, had killed one of their own. Maybe John couldn't disobey his orders, but he wanted revenge.

"I need to go contact the counsel. Come get me if we are doing something." As John left he almost bumped into Victor. They said a small greeting to each other as Victor entered the room. He placed his blaster and flamethrower onto the table in the middle of the room as he sat down in a nearby chair.

"He is hiding something." Victor just blurted as Tyler was almost patched up. Colton was now cleaning the wound.

"Why such an accusation?" Colton asked him.

"It's a talent of mine. You can tell when someone is lying or has a secret he doesn't want to tell. Keep an eye on him." Victor said has he fiddled with his ammo belt. He had no interest in John's secrets, but felt that it was his duty to tell is friends.

"How are you doing with Cameron? You seemed disinterested with his death, but you guys came from the same planet, almost the same neighborhood." Tyler asked him.

Victor sighed and let his head drop to try to hide the sadness behind his eyes.

"Not good. We will leave it at that." Victor told them, with a bit of what could have been anger. No, it was bitterness, the kind that is present when you're angry and sad. The kind that gives a dark feeling around your heart that consumes you with either depression or hatred. Victor chose hatred. He hated the droids. The Separatists. But strangely enough he did not hate Malakia. He hated the Sith Lord that had used Malakia's inner hatred against him.

"Well, I wanted to say goodbye for now. I will be in Dagobah. Contact me if anything comes up." Victor said as he gathered his things and left. Colton and Tyler sat in silence as he finished patching him up.

All he could see was darkness. Bitter, unloving darkness. He felt his limbs, but they were heavy. They felt fake, not his. Then, a breath filled his lungs, metallic and cold. He regained feeling of his fingers, but only on one hand. He could feel restraints on his wrist and ankles and a cold table underneath him. Then his hearing phased back in. He heard machines, metal feet marching in unison, then a familiar sound. Hiss. The sound of something hanging onto life, breathing through a mask-like rebreather. Then, it spoke to him.

"They didn't even come back for you. They left you. They didn't even have the courage to attempt to search for your body." A voice he knew all too well. Cameron couldn't reply. It was as if his voice was turned off. His eyes fluttered open and were immediately blinded by the bright light of an operating table. The table buzzed, tipping to make Cameron almost completely upright, directly facing Malakia.

"Now, do you see? They never cared for us. They fear the strong. The counsel sent you on a suicide mission. They knew of the temple, they knew how heavily defended and evil it was. Yet, they still commanded you to die. Join me. We will take the counsel down at its roots. Do not deny me. I will break your will." Malakia said.

Cameron could feel small tendrils poking at his brain. He was too weak to fight him. All he could feel was a strong obedience. Hatred. And then, he was not him. He saw Malakia as a commander. Someone who could get things done. Someone that knew of the counsels sins.

"Now. Who do you serve?" Malakia demanded.

Cameron resisted. He could feel his mind weakening, but he refused to serve the Darkside. He is right. Help him take the Republic down. Cameron resisted...but his strength wavered.

"The. Republic. Go to hell." He spit out at Malakia. Cameron was weakening.

"Wrong answer." Malakia dug deep into Cameron's will, making Cameron wince and squirm. It was more pain than he could imagine. Was it even real? He couldn't say, but he was giving in. How was Malakia able to do this? Join him. Help. Restore order and balance. They abandoned me. Cameron's consciousness was turning against him. He was defeated.

"Who. Do. You. Serve?" Malakia sneered with audible difficulty.

"I serve...Malakia."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Present Day

The rain was not soothing. It felt like a mockery of the sadness that was filling the group. The fear. The hate. Cameron should have been dead. He was dead. Colton had confirmed that he lost all readings on his vitals. Now standing in front of the towering monstrosity that resembled their old friend, no one could move. They couldn't see his face behind the mask he wore, which was complimented by his black trench coat and armor. His sabers, once green, now gave off a menacing red glow which seemed to boil their blood. Their Cameron was probably dead, and the shell in front of them was probably nothing more than a pawn of the darkside. The sound of a jet fighter knocked them back into consciousness. Ethan turned and saw John's fighter closing in. Ethan was standing behind Cameron, and started closing in on Malakia.

"John pull back now. It's too hot. Do not engage!" Ethan yelled into the comms. No reply. John was still closing in.

Is there a jammer? Is his ship damaged? Suddenly, Ethan had a quick vision of John firing on Malakia's ship. He had to think fast. He saw Malakia standing outside of his Ship glaring at the fighter with his one good eye. Ethan jumped right next to him just as John shot. The twins both deflected the fighters' shots, sabers moving like lightning. One of the rebounded lasers clipped John's wing, so John turned back towards the base. Malakia glared at Ethan, and for a moment, looked calm. His eye flashed to the green it once was. He pushed Ethan away and climbed into his ship. Ethan let him go.

While the group watched Ethan sprint to his brother, Cameron advanced. Will shot at him,but he easily deflected the lasers. As Will got close, Cameron abruptly swatted him to the side.

"Alright Lydia, guess it's you and me now," Victor said with a smirk. He extended an electrified baton he used when fighting hand to hand with sabers. The baton carried enough electricity to stun a wampa, so in theory it would take Cameron down easily. Cameron swung viciously sideways at Victor. The bounty hunter rolled under, sliding on the grit underfoot as he jabbed his baton into Cameron's ribs.

Nothing. The robed figure didn't even flinch. Victor's eyes widened in surprise as a heavy foot connected with his chest and he flew almost ten feet back. He then had a crazy idea. He proceeded to take of his helmet, stopping Cameron dead in his tracks.

"Its me! Victor! Do you not remember? We grew up together! Please Cameron, stop!" He pleaded. He thought maybe Cameron was still there, somewhere.

Cameron started to look down, then twitched his head and proceeded to advance on Victor.

Well that didn't work, guess i'll try force again. But his armor was tough. He couldn't figure out how to damage him, it was like he had some heavy duty armor. Then it hit Victor with about the same force Cameron's foot had.

His armor! Why am I so stupid!? Victor was sure he had been dropped as a child. But there had to be a weak spot somewhere...

Victor's eyes shifted over the figures suit. It looked like everything was protected. Almost everything. But Victor's days in the grey areas of the law had served him well. He noticed that between Cameron's mask and chestplate, there was just a mesh connection over the neck area. However, in order to exploit this Achilles Heel, Victor would need to get rid of the cloak.

It was just like that time when that sneaky Wookie tried to hide himself in the bushes. Victor had been determined to capture him, and he was even more determined now. Victor lifted his arm, exposing the small metallic barrel of his flamethrower. Fire engulfed Cameron for a moment, setting his cloak ablaze. Cameron quickly threw off the cloak, which fell to the ground in a smoking heap, exposing Cameron's arms and neck.

Perfect. Victor engaged his jet pack, jumping around Cameron and thrusting his baton into his neck. Cameron stumbled to one knee.

In desperation, Victor smashed the baton into his neck again. With almost superhuman strength, Cameron grabbed the electrified weapon and flung it towards Ethan, with Victor still hanging on to the other end.

Victor hit with a metallic thud, knocking the wind out of him.

"Don't worry! I can handle it!" Victor said, stumbling to his feet.

"Victor, he just tossed you thirty feet. With his bare hands. You need fussing." Ethan chided, helping his friend to his feet. Now Cameron, or Nemesis, was surrounded. Ethan and Victor behind him, William, Grace, Tyler, and Colton were in front. They got here just in time. They all stared at the towering monstrosity. Ethan then sent a command to them all, through their thoughts. He had been trying to practice talking to multiple people at once with the force, but all he could get out were one word commands normally. He managed a few words this time.

Attack. Don't kill.

All at once they charged Nemesis. He ducked and side stepped the group with ease. He moved surprisingly fast for someone who looked so heavy and, well, as clumsy as the old Cameron. He was the one who failed on the acrobatic tests they had as children. This shocked most of the group, who began to stagger back.

Nemesis sensed this as weakness and began to press. He kicked Tyler into Ethan, Victor, and Grace. William was providing cover fire from the sky using his jetpack and blaster. Nemesis was not only fighting four Jedi and two bounty hunters, but was able to dodge and deflect everything thrown at him. He moved with almost blinding speed. While he didn't manage to connect with his sabers, he punched, swiped and kicked with the force of a speeder slamming into an unsuspecting pedestrian.

As the group picked themselves up of the ground, Nemesis slashed with his saber down onto Tyler. Grace quickly slid into the gap and held her sabers between Tyler and Nemesis. Nemesis' lightsaber almost missed Tyler.

Almost.

The tip was digging into his left shoulder. Tyler was screaming in pain, the smell of burning flesh filling his nostrils.

Grace was able to stop Nemesis from outright killing Tyler, but she couldn't get him to get off. In a moment of desperation, Tyler thrust out his hand and imagined a force coming from it. Push.

Nemesis staggered back as Grace pushed his lightsaber away. As Nemesis began moving forward again, Ethan then started countering him. Grace and Colton began helping too, coming from a little to the side.

Nemesis was now pushing towards them as if he was fighting a strong wind. His boots were sliding and scraping against the ground as he struggled back to the Jedi.

Victor picked Tyler up and they both began helping with the push against Nemesis. Now, Nemesis was pressed against the tower that was connected to the platform, fighting to reach the group. Then, as they all landed one last blow, William fired a rocket into Nemesis's chest. He flew backwards and hit the tower with a sickening thud. It began to buckle and cave in, the platform falling with it. As the platform rained down onto the field below, the group jumped and landed at the base, Victor and William aiding Tyler.

As soon as they hit the ground, they bolted for cover from the still falling tower. The sounds of splitting metal and explosions filled the air as their breathing turned into coughing, ash and debris clogging their lungs.

The Jedi and bounty hunters were finally safe when the tower had settled. Half of the Separatist base was gone, leaving the rest a burning ruin. Victor and Colton were tending to Tyler, as his wound was still very painful. Thankfully there was no bleeding, lightsabers cauterized as they cut.

"Do you think he is dead?" Grace asked. Ethan had been keeping an eye on the ruble. Waiting for a sign that Nemesis, or Cameron, was still alive.

"I'm not sure. I can't sense anything... Colton, how bad is Tyler?"

Ethan redirected his attention to his squad. He began turning away from the damaged base when he felt something coming towards them. Fast. He whipped around and lashed out with the force, stopping a piece of shrapnel the size of a cruiser just before it would have turned him and Colton into a streak of red on the ground. Groaning with exertion, almost dropping it, Ethan managed to toss the shrapnel aside in time to see something emerging from the ruble.

How? How could he be alive? We dropped a BUILDING on top of him! Victor began thinking.

Frankly, that was what everyone was thinking. Yet, there he was, pushing huge mounds of rubble off of him like it was not the first time this had happened.

He was now emerged from the wreckage, staring at them through his now cracked mask. He glanced at his right shoulder where a rather large piece of metal was sticking out.

Without hesitation, he grabbed it and yanked it out, grunting as pieces of flesh came off with it. Nemesis marched back towards them, igniting both if his sabers.

Then, suddenly, he froze. He didn't move a muscle. Didn't flinch. His lightsabers turned off as a transport ship landed next to him, Malakia hanging from the side.

"Come Nemesis. We have more important matters. Master wishes to see us" He hissed through his rebreather. Nemesis obeyed immediately, boarding the ship next to his commander as it took off. The group was left in a state of paralyzed fear.

One Week Later'

Malakia entered the dark, circular room. It was barren except for the imposing desk that sat across from him. The ceiling was not visible. The room seemed to melt away into pitch darkness.

Malakia's heavy breathing echoed throughout the room, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. The chair behind the desk was facing away from him.

As he waited nervously, a raspy voice attacked his mind, bringing him to his knees. He crouched there in pain, holding his head as he listened.

"Your affections for your brother have made you weak. You should have killed him and all his friends. Used your pet to his fullest potential," the voice berated. It was full of malice and hate, stabbing Malakia's mind with every syllable.

Malakia began speaking through not only the difficulty of his rebreather, but the pain he felt in his mind, "I am... sorry Master. I was caught off guard-"

"Silence with these excuses! You will not get another chance. Fail me again, and I WILL find a new apprentice. I will be sending someone with you to oversee your endeavors from now on to assure you do not betray me."

Malakia was now starting to stand back up, feeling the relief of his Master's voice lifting. Then another black-robed figure entered the room. His hood hung low from his head, obscuring half his face. His mouth and cheeks were covered with red paint in a swirly design, almost mimicking someone who had a very bloody, sloppy dinner.

"Do not fail me." The Master said. Not another word came from him or the new "supervisor". As they exited, Malakia could tell the newcomer was a Knight. The way he carried himself with his hands close to his side showed he was ready for combat constantly.

"So, what am I supposed to call you? And don't even try to take over command or I'll drop you on tatooine." Malakia said stopping in front of him. The man stopped and chuckled, amused by Malakia's attempt at intimidation.

"Mess up again, and you won't have anything to command." He said with a laugh. It was mockingly cruel, and slightly obnoxious.

"You can have the privilege of calling me by my birth name." He retorted in a very rude, sarcastic manner.

Malakia, clearly annoyed, asked him, "And what might that be?"

"Joshua."


	6. Chapter 6

About a week had passed since the mission. Technically it had been a success, the base was now destroyed. However, the group of Jedi still feel like they had failed. Not only had Malakia escaped, a new enemy under his thumb had been revealed. Many of the group members thought that they would have to kill Malakia, but Ethan would have none of it. His goal was to bring his brother back. Rescue. If only they knew who and where the master was.

A meeting was called at Naboo, their main base of operations. As they all entered the room, Ethan spotted John. Grace and Victor turned to see his eyes turn yellow as he began walking hastily at John. Without hesitation, Ethan punched John in the face, connecting with his Jaw and making an audible _whack!_

"YOU HAD ORDERS! I said DO NOT shoot to kill, only capture. AND YOU ALMOST KILLED HIM!" Ethan screamed at John, his fist connecting with another sickening crunch. John got up to defend himself taking a jab at Ethan, who easily dodged it and pushed John against a wall.

"I was following the orders of the jedi Ethan! The order said I had to kill Malakia. He has become too engulfed in the Dark Side to be saved. They trusted ME with the truth," John turned and spit out some blood. "they knew you were too weak to do it!" He smacked Ethan across the face with the end of his blaster. Before anyone could break up the fight, Ethan yelled out in rage. His skin grew pale and eyes were a ghastly yellow. He thrust his hand forward, as if to choke John from a distance. John was lifted into the air, his feet barely touching the ground, as he choked. Ethan couldn't hear anything. He just wanted to make him suffer. _Who was he to defy me? My orders? He is MY brother I should be the one to end him but only if I say so!_

Then Grace stood in between him and John. She used her own force to begin blocking Ethan's while yelling at him through his rage. "ETHAN! CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW!" She locked eyes with him, channelling her sadness and disappointment. Victor came and helped her lower Ethan's hand to his side. John slumped to the floor gasping for air.

Colton and Tyler proceeded to check on him as Ethan stormed off, muttering about meditation and controlling his anger.

"What was that all about? He could have killed you John!" William was shocked at the violence that had taken place. Everybody was having trouble processing what had just happened. What threw Victor off was the eyes. They had turned _yellow._ The only other person he knew with that kind of physical mark was Malakia…

"We just need to keep an eye on him. In the meantime, we have orders ." Tyler told them. His arm was bandaged and he couldn't really use it.

Colton stopped him from getting up out of his chair, "Not for you this time dude. Heal up. Victor and John can go and I will take your place. Right guys?" They both nodded in agreement as John held ice to his jaw, recovering from the attack.

Tyler changed the subject. "We've been called to the Temple outpost. They need us to do some research about the Kyber Crystals found there, as well as investigating the family history of Malakia and Ethan. Maybe if we can figure out their background, we can understand a little more about Malakia. I'm sorry I can't come with you."

Victor, John, and Colton began walking to the hanger, contemplating what they might find. Could the twins actually be clones? Maybe a lesser known humanoid race? Descendants of a sith? So many questions ran through their minds, but no words were said on the ride to the dreadful temple that brought back the memories of their dead friend.

 _2 days later_

Even though it was now held by the jedi, the temple looked the same as it had the first time Colton had seen it. The other two, seeing it for the first time, looked around with wide eyes at the huge cavern with the dark monolith in the center, pulsating red crystal visible at its peak. The red light was the only illumination. It was horrible. It was… the most ghastly thing they had ever seen, yet, they could not look away. Their breath and their steps fell away into silence, as if the evil of the crystal was feeding on all life, all sound. The closer they approached it, the colder the air became.

"Guys…" Victor trailed off in a whisper. "Why did we come here again?"

"I know." Colton replied grimly. "This temple is deeply repulsive and wrong. But it was the only lead we had to finding answers. Maybe this is how Malakia turned Cameron into… what he is."

As the two were talking, Victor noticed that John had approached the base of the pyramid and was reaching out as if to touch it, a red glint in his eyes as he stared transfixed by the crystal.

"John, no!" Victor ran over to him.

Colton tried to follow, but he couldn't get that close. He walked slowly as if carrying a huge weight as he neared the pyramid, and then finally stopped about 20 feet from the monolith. He turned away from it and shuddered. The force of light within him, every cell of his body, recoiled away from the source of darkness.

"JOHN!" Victor was yelling at his friend and trying to pull him away. "DON'T TOUCH IT!" The bounty hunter grabbed John and tried to drag him away. It took some work, as John was bigger than him, but after he managed to pull him back to where Colton was, John snapped back into focus.

"Victor," he shook him off. "Why are you dragging me?"

"You were going to touch it! What were you thinking?!" Victor shouted.

"I don't know what youre talking about!" John snapped.

"You… don't remember?" Colton asked him.

"I… I guess not…" John suddenly looked confused and disoriented.

"Well, you're staying with me from now on." Victor assured him, "Colton can't go near it because he has too much of a light force within him, and apparently you have some dark so the crystal is trying to corrupt you or something. Me… I'm not a jedi. I don't think the crystal has much of an effect either way for me."

"Well…" John shook his head, "at least we know that this object could definitely have been used to change Cameron."

"Somehow I doubt he had darkness in him," Colton admitted, "but if there is some way to force someone near it who shouldn't be able to go there… I can definitely see how that could break someone, make them go crazy and become someone they're not."

"The Jedi said they are trying to simply guard this." Victor told them. "At first I was confused about why they wouldn't just destroy it since they know it is dangerous and could be used for mass destruction, but now I see why. It's too powerful, and tampering with it could have serious consequences."

"Yes," Colton agreed, "I think we have all the answers we need about how our good friend could ever become such a monster. Let's get out of here and look for information on the twins. I think they have more dark side in them than John, no wonder the sith took Malakia so easily. We will have to be careful with Ethan. It's a good thing he wasn't in here long last time. I hate to think about what could have happened…"

They proceeded to the archives, searching for anything to do with the Twins or the Kyber crystal or anything that connected the two. After hours of searching, they learned of a trip Yoda took to an ancient Sith planet.

John piped up, "Hey guys, that trip Yoda took, it says that he found something of "strange origin". Two items, identical to one another."

They all sat silent for a moment.

"So… where to?" Victor asked.

"You're not going to believe it..." was all John said.

The trio left the cavern, nodding to the guards as they made their way out. To learn about the twins' past, they would have to go all the way back to where they were found by Master Yoda. Moraband, historically know as Korriban. The homeworld of the Sith.

The old planet had a sinister glow, visually desolate even from atmosphere. The planet radiated The Dark Side. As Victor traced the mountains from the window, they descended towards the planet, flying over an area that was titled the Valley of the Dark Lords.

"This place is evil. I can feel it crawling over my skin," Colton said, gazing out the window. "John, please stay on the ship. We saw how the crystal affected you, I am worried this place will take a toll on you. Please stay, for your own well being."

John looked at them, begrudgingly nodding his head in compliance.

Victor loaded his rifle and made sure his flamethrower and jet pack had fuel while Colton packed a trauma kit for emergencies. They touched down in front of what looked like a temple, but ten times that size. As they walked through a narrow, rocky canyon, their footsteps echoed. It was very odd that something like this, the very roots of the Sith, would be completely unguarded. The temple was shaped like a pyramid, with a massive even gash down the middle of each side. They entered the ominous temple, which smelled of dust and was lit only by small cracks in the ceiling and walls. It made their skin feel unnaturally cold. They felt paranoid, like many old, powerful spirits were watching them. They proceeded into a large chamber with cages and rusty chains lining it.

Victor shifted uneasily, keeping his gun at ready. He muttered to Colton at almost a whisper, "I recognize this from a few temples I've run into while on jobs. This is an execution room of a sorts. I bet they executed Jedi prisoners here."

Colton nodded, "I can feel the Death here. It's almost overwhelming, the sickening feeling of the cold gripping me. Let's go."

They rushed out to the next room. It appeared to have a massive tomb at the end and was adorned with murals on the walls. There were also pedestals with what looked like holocrons on them. Victor approached one of the pedestals and pressed a button on the holocron, making it hum to life. It displayed the image of a man dressed in robes. The man's hood was off, revealing the sinister visage of a man who looked as if he could have killed the universe twice over and not bat an eye. The audio was distorted so that only a few words were understandable, but they echoed in the dark tomb. Words like "Bane", "Rule", and "Two", were all the Jedi could hear.

"I think I know whose tomb this is. Have you heard of Darth Bane?" Colton began asking.

"Yeah, I think so...didn't he create the rule of two?" Victor replied.

"That's right. This must be his tomb. Come on, I think that maybe we can find something in here." Colton began walking towards the end of the room. Just as Colton approached the tomb, a malicious laughter filled the chamber. A red apparition appeared over the coffin-like structure. The man from the holocron was floating above them. He looked to the right side of the room and waved his hand. A hidden door opened for them, as what they could only assume was Darth Bane's spirit smiled cruelly at them.

A voice rang in their heads, nauseating them. "Go for what you seek. It will lead to your doom." With that, the figure disappeared.

"Don't tell me that's what I think it was. Please..." gasped Victor, who had been aiming his gun at the ghost. Colton sat on the ground, dumbfounded at what had taken place.

"Sorry Vic, it is. That's bad. I thought that a Sith Lord's spirit could only appears when they were very strong. Let's check out the room." Colton said, getting up gingerly as if the room would fall out from under him.

They proceeded through to the next room. What they found was a bunch of scrolls and damaged holocrons, and two pods. The room looked like it was once an experimentation room. Victor leaned down and began putting together one of the holocrons. It sprang to life, showing a scientist figure. He began speaking in broken sentences due to the poor quality of the holocron. He said things like, "The cloning process", and "Dessels DNA". The only clear sentence was,"Darth 1 and Darth 2 will be ready for stasis by the morning."

Victor perked up at the news. "Didn't master Yoda come to this planet? And wasn't the whole ordeal somewhat secret?"

Colton looked at the scroll in his hand, unable to read it. "I remember that. I've read the report but it's very vague. Maybe… oh no." Colton stood straight up, and began walking towards the door. Victor knew why Colton was in a hurry. Victor's HUD went off telling him that someone was trying to get in the ship, and Colton must have sensed it. They rushed to the ship, worried John may be in trouble.

Ethan went to his room and locked the door. He took off his main robes and went to his training dummy. He proceeded to viciously pummel the dummy, breaking it in half in the process. As he turned around to grab a new training dummy, he saw what he thought for a moment was Malakia. A face with glowing yellow eyes and pale skin. In shock, he lashed out, connecting with glass and realizing he had smashed a mirror. He gazed at the broken shards, realizing what was happening. He had let the dark side get the best of him, and it almost cost the life of one of his friends. Ethan sat on the ground and began to block out all emotion, all feeling. He relaxed his breathing, and began to meditate. After what only seemed like minutes, Ethan could feel himself pulled into a vision. But this was different. Standing across from him, in their old room at the academy, was his brother. The only difference was he looked like his old self, dark robes that didn't cover his arms, slightly pale with some light scarring, but no yellow eyes or burned face.

Ethan called out to him, "Is this a vision, or a message?"

Malakia looked at him as if that was a stupid question, "Message. I want you to know that I am not thanking you for saving my life, and the next time I see you, I will most likely have to kill you."

"Then why contact me at all?" Ethan said, walking closer to his brother.

"I felt a disturbance. I thought…. I thought you died." He said, taking a newfound interest in his shoes.

"I went momentary darkside. I felt a need to kill John for putting you in danger. Malakia, why is this happening?" Ethan asked his brother.

"You'll understand soon. If my sources are right, your friends went to our homeworld." Malakia said while walking away to an open door way Ethan couldn't see past.

"Dagobah?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

"No. You'll find out soon enough." He then went through the door and Ethan woke from his meditation, realizing almost an entire day had passed since he started. As he looked around his room, he saw that Grace was sitting next to him, cross-legged sleeping. He laughed a little which woke her up.

"Are you ok now?" She asked him. The look of worry on her face and her tone made her realize that he really needed to get himself under control.

"I am now. Thank you. We should go check on the others. I have a vision I need to tell them about." Ethan got up from the ground, extending a hand to help Grace up. Ethan was worried about his friends, and needed to show that he was ok.


	7. Chapter 7

John was not having a good time with this mission. First, he apparently almost touched the super-ultra-mega corrupt Kyber crystal, then someone literally was knocking on the door of the shuttle, waking him up from a nap.

"Go. Away." He muttered, still half asleep. The small tapping persisted, now angering John. Colton and Victor knew the code, they could easily open the door himself. He groggily shambles over to the door and opened it in a hard, jerking way.

"What!? Open the door your se...wait. Who are you?" He asked, still waking up. The figure before him looked like Victor- Mandalorian armor, blaster, wrist mounted flamethrower- but the hue of the armor was off. Instead of green and black, it had a dark color. Purple. The figure waved at John, the proceeded to punch him hard enough to send him flying back into the shuttle.

Definitely not Victor, John thought. Probably a bounty hunter sent by Malakia or something. The punch surprised him, and he had almost forgotten about his blaster strapped to his side. He un holstered it, but was too slow to the draw. The bounty hunter had a scattergun held about a foot away from his face, which meant that if he moved there would be nothing left of his face. He huffed and laid his head on the ground and slid his pistol towards his captor. Normally, he could easily get out of this situation, but he was in no shape to fight anyone seeing that his saber was in another section of the ship and his force abilities were 'limited'.

The bounty hunter said in a very robotic and metallic voice, as if they were using a speech jammer, "Ship is detained for now. No sign of the scrolls. Waiting for his friends to come back, they should know I'm here. Archangel out." Archangel's only movement after that was to detain John. As he moved towards him, John kicked his gun to no longer point at him, which caused him to shoot a hole into another room nearby. John then proceeded to try and fight his captor, but was almost outmatched. He was slender, and fast, making him difficult to hit or pin down, yet he punched almost as hard as a wookie. They stumbled out of the ship's doors, leaving Archangel ontop of John as he pummeled him. John blocked as many punches as he could, but they rained down on him faster than he would expect such a small person to be capable of.

Archangel propped himself up, holding John slightly off the ground with another fist raised ready to hit him, when he flung off of him like someone pulled him off-stage with a cane. The hum of a lightsaber brought John to his senses, revealing Victor and Colton ready. Colton walked over, and healed some of John's wounds with the force, an ability that was rare and very taxing on the user. John ran into the ship to grab his saber, hearing sounds of a fight and someone actually hitting the side of the ship. Once he found his saber, in the bathroom of all places, he rushed out to immediately get smacked across the face by a metal whip. Archangel was spinning around them, vaulting over the saber attacks and blaster fire, all while he beat them with a baton that was interchangeable as a whip. When John got back up, for what seemed like the hundredth time that fight, he was behind him. He came to swing down on him, which would have effectively killed him, but Archangel moved with blinding speed, defending with his apparently lightsaber-proof baton. The baton seemed to work almost like Victors, but without the taser function. He threw Johns saber to the side, wrapping his whip around his waist, throwing him into his friends. He then ran over picking up some of the scrolls, scanning them, and began running away. Archangel then used his jump pack to board a ship that seemed to be floating about twenty feet away, cloaked. As the Jedi looked up to see their assailant leave, he gave a mock two-finger salute and dropped the scrolls back onto the ground, flying out of the atmosphere in an instant.

"You had one, ONE, job." Victor tells John, picking himself up from the ground.

"I was asleep! How was I supposed to know some lunatic would jump me!?" John yelled back, putting his hands up in a mock surrender.

"Let's just head back to base, we got what we needed." Colton pushed both of them back into the ship, and began trying to decipher the scrolls.

 _A Few Days Later..._

Colton, Victor, and John all made it back to the base on , a very eager Ethan waited for them at the hangar. They could see him pacing back and forth, his hands folded behind his back as if he was about to make a tough business decision. Once they landed, he rushed up to the door.

"Did you guys find anything? What happened? Why does John have a black eye?" Ethan bombarded them with questions in a rapid succession, which was very strange given his usual, quiet nature.

"Some bounty hunter by the name of Archangel jumped us. He didn't take anything, just beat us up and scanned what scrolls we found." John snipped at him. There was still tension between them form when Ethan had almost murdered him.

"So, two Jedi and a skilled bounty hunter failed to take on one man?" Tyler had stepped up out from behind the ship. Victor jumped at the sound of their friend sneaking up on him.

"What that heck dude?! If you keep doing that I'm tying a bell around your neck." Victor had to turn his blaster off and holster it, for fear he might shoot someone on accident. Again.

"Let's head to the debriefing, then we can talk about how one guy took on three of our 'Best'." Ethan said, still eyeing John.

 _One Hour Later_

"So," Ethan began after the recollection that Colton had given, with the occasional nods from Victor. "You found word of some form of cloning project, apparently saw an apparition of Darth Bane, maybe, and John was affected by the Dark Kyber Crystal. Great."

The rest of the group remained silent, letting this all sink in. The Sith were growing in power, and they were still unsure of what this project was.

"Well, one things for certain, we need to figure out who Dessel is." Tyler began trying to further the conversation. He was finally out of his bandages, ready for action again.

"If i remember right, wasn't that Darth Bane's real name? Not the one he claimed for himself?" William had been quiet for most of the debrief.

"William, that kind of information is classified. How do you know that?" Grace interrogated.

William looked dreadfully confused, "I...I'm not sure. Honestly, it just came to mind when we started talking about Darth Bane." Ethan sprang up from his seat and ordered a group of troopers into the room. These were special ops troops, designed for finding people.

"Bloodhound, you need to get the location of two, possibly extremely dangerous, people with connection to Darth Bane. Keep it quiet. We don't need this spreading around and causing a panic." He ordered. Usually, Tyler dealt with these troopers, but this matter had become to convoluted.

Laughter then began to ring in the room, giving Ethan a headache so powerful that he was brought to his knees.

 _Fool. You will only find your doom._

Once he came back to his senses, Colton was hovered over him, monitoring his pulse.

"Ethan, look at me. Follow my finger." As Colton began to wave his hand infton of Ethan, he pushed it aside.

"I'm fine. Did anyone else hear that?" He asked, looking around him with dazed eyes. They all looked back with equal confusion.

"No, we didn't hear anything. Maybe you're going insane like your brother." John decided to chide. Ethan began to take a step forward when Victor stepped up and blocked him.

"Let's go for a walk Ethan." Victor then took him out of the room, and ended the debrief.

Josh concluded that this was the worst assignment ever. He didn't care for Malakia and all this dumb drama and _feelings_ with his brother. Josh felt that this was all just melodramatic. He was more interested in how he broke Cameron's will. Especially given who is ancestor was. Josh stood in front of the deactivated Super-Sith, trying to peer through his visor at what slept underneath.

"What a sad, pitiful experiment." Josh mumbled under his breath. "Your ancestor would be disappointed in you, he didn't even let _death_ stop him from being one of the most powerful beings. And here you are, a puppet for a d-class Sith "Lord", who is really just a pawn. Your pathet-" Josh's sentence was cut short by the sudden uppercut that sent him into the next room. Nemesis had activated, and proceeded to march after Josh. Josh scrambled to his feet, and pierced his saber through his chest, which would kill him. Nemesis didn't flinch, but instead grabbed Josh at the throat with both hands and lifted him into the air. Josh gasped for air, attempting at fighting Nemesis' mind. Nothing seemed to work, until Malakia had come rushing in.

"Nemesis, stand down!" He commanded. Nemesis promptly dropped Josh, who had almost turned a shade of unhealthy purple.

"You need to keep your _pet_ on a shorter leash." Josh sputtered.

"Maybe you shouldn't antagonize killing machines." Malakia retorted. "You are under orders not to go near Nemesis. Now remember this incident, and remember who is the pawn and who is in charge." Malakia was now standing within a foot of Josh, is rebreather shaking his eardrums.

"Well, then you wouldn't mind me saying, you're weak. Pathetic. If you were competent you would have killed your brother already. I guess someone still has a soft spot." Josh began poking fun at him. Malakia was now very visibly angry, his fist clenched and shaking slightly.

"You will stand down. Or I will make you. What's it going to be?" Malakia said through gritted teeth. Josh took a step back, ready to fire more insults at him, when he saw a red glow form around him. He saw the visage of the one whom he only read about. The big man himself. He went on one knee, in the presence of Darth Bane.

"Forgive me my Lord." Josh had began apologizing, to meeting the eyes of Bane.

"That's what I-"

"Not you. Him." Malakia turned and saw no one, and the red glow had disappeared. When he turned back Josh was already walking away. Malakia did not pursue, and decided to tend to other matters

 _Later that day_

Josh went to his room, and opened a channel with his master.

"Yes my acolyte? Do you have a report?" His sinister voice echoing through the empty room.

"Malakia is still untrusting of me. And Nemesis is not under his full control. He is weak. You should have already put me in charge." Josh did not meet the holograms eyes, no one ever looked his master in the eyes, and for good reason.

"Silence. Project Nemesis will go according to plan. Malakia should be meeting with the bounty hunter soon, furthering our plan. Do not fail me. You know what happens when people fail." With that the communication shut off.

Malakia had punched a dent into a nearby ship while waiting to meet the bounty hunter he hired. Archangel was a strange name for a bounty hunter, but if the job got done he didn't care who did it. The dark, purple ship slowly descended into the hangar, almost lading completely silent. The door opened underneath a ship, and Archangel made his way to him. He stood in front of Malakia and handed him the scrolls.

"Good job. Did you kill any of them?" Malakia asked. He told Archangel only to kill them if he had too.

A feminine voice replied back, "No, just knocked them around a bit." Archangel took her helmet off to reveal a head of long, wavy brown hair which passed her shoulders slightly. Malakia starred slightly dumbfounded.

"What are you staring at?" She asked him.

Stammering, Malakia responded, "Oh, uh, what? No! I wasn't staring! I uh, just thought you were, you know, a guy."

"I'm gonna pretend like we didn't have this conversation, for the sake of your pride. You got anymore work for me?" She asked, avoiding his obvious discomfort.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I need you to infiltrate the Jedi base on Naboo, and keep tabs on them. I want to be a step ahead. Ill triple your pay." Malakia had turned to gaze out of the dreadnaught's windows. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Done. Guess I'm off." She began to depart until Malakia had twisted her back around with the force.

"Do not get attached to them. They are all more twisted than even me. You'll see." Malakia warned, an audible hate and venom spewing from his words. With that, Archangel departed, and Malakia made his way to Cameron's quarters.

 _One Hour Later_

Malakia approached the deactivated Nemesis. He stared at him, remembering when he was just Cameron. He reached back to his next, and pressed a button. Cameron's visor lowered and peeled back, revealing a scarred pale face of his old friend.

"This is wrong, on so many levels Malakia." Cameron retorted. He couldn't move his arms or legs, but he could speak freely.

"Morales went out the window a long time ago. You'll see why in due time." Malakia had take off most of his suit, revealing a small, casual robe and a very light rebreather, one that doesn't let him do much besides standard breathing.

"Why are you even doing this? We could all just go back, start over. We can be Jedi stil" Cameron had pleaded before, but Malakia never listened.

"No. We can't. We were built for this. We have only this path, no matter how hard we try." Malakia looked solemnly at the ground now, not meeting Cameron's gaze. He began reaching back for the switch to deactivate him again.

"Wait." Malakia stopped moving at his friends plea.

"Who is this ancestor that everyone keeps talking about?"

"I am not supposed to tell you." Malakia was now resting on the switch.

"Please. What makes me like this?" Cameron's voice broke slightly as he looked down at his mechanical body.

"Sion." With that Malakia shut down Cameron and left his quarters. He needed to prepare for Phase-2 of Project Nemesis.


	8. Chapter 8

Alarms resounded in the ship. A scared, spastic crew ran from one side of the ship to the other, attempting to fix the damage the Sith ship had done. The Flagship, _Scythe_ , had intercepted the Republics ship _Wanderer._ Grace was at the command bridge, trying to restore order while her ship was slowly being consumed by flames. Then an eruption at the command bridge threw William awake. Panting and sweating, he examined his room, almost as if he had been on that ship. He threw on his casual wear, a jacket and some light pants, and rushed to the control room at their base. Ethan was already there, he barely ever slept, organizing teams and talking with all the different commanders that needed orders.

Before William could say anything, and without looking at him, Ethan confirmed his vision. "We have lost all contact with _Wanderer._ Grace won't answer any of the calls we have been sending, I think something happened."

"William held his arms across his chest. "Ethan, I need to tell you something. I saw, a vision or something. Grace's ship… it was under attack. I don't know if it was true or not, but if it is…" Ethan looked up at him. For a second, his eyes were a sad blue. Another friend, another Jedi lost. Then rage began to show. His eyes started to become a bright yellow, he looked at his hands, as if deciding whether to punch someone or begin throwing things. William then began to hear choppy sentences, _I'll kill him… he will not...no more…_

Ethan made a mad dash for the door. William couldn't keep up with him, as if Ethan was using force assisted speed down the corridors to the hangar. William only made it in time to see him take off, while a shadowy figure jumped onto the landing gear of the ship.

William sprinted back to the command room. He began to call everyone in for an emergency meeting. Everyone came fully prepared except Victor, who was ten minutes late and still in his pajamas.

"Alright, I gathered you all here today to… Victor what are you wearing?" WIlliam had begun to debrief the group until he noticed Victors pajamas, which had little animated ewoks all over it.

"Huh, what?" He had began to doze off again until he realised he was still dressed for bed. He looked up, shrugged, and began to lean back in his chair and relaxed. "Whatever, just continue so I can go back to sleep."

"Ok then… anyways so we have lost all contact with the _Wanderer_. Ethan has gone off and I don't know where too. So I am conducting an emergency rescue or intel mission. Depends on if anyone made it out alive." William folded his hands on the table, messing with a small signet ring he had with him as he talked. Public speaking wasn't something he enjoyed, even if it was in front of his friends.

Colton stood up, addressing William, "Where are we going then?"

"Malachor V." The room went absolutely silent. They could hear people walking down the halls outside their command room, every beeping of every machine. A pin could have dropped, and echoed in the silence.

"Why would we ever want to go there?" John began to lean in, "Not only is it super dangerous to fly there due to the Mass Shadows, but that is the site of probably the most people killed in a single attack." John was right everyone looked at each other uneasily. Malachor V was the detonation site of the Mass SHadow Generator, a device used by The Exile to end the Mandalorian Wars. Now, the planet was merely just a pile of rock in the middle of the largest gravity anomaly in the galaxy.

"Well, that's where Grace had been heading. There had been rumors of a small Separatist outpost there, and her goal was to take it down so they could not study the effects of the MSG or learn to replicate it. Hopefully, they just got damaged in one of the anomalies. But if worst comes to worst, our goal is to finish scanning the area and take out that outpost if it exits. Any questions?"

The group looked uneasy, but all nodded in agreement.

William turned on his heel, and began making a swift exit to the door, "Let's go then. Move out."

 _Few Days Travel Later_

 _Malachor V_

"This place looks and feels like a graveyard. We shouldn't be here." Colton had been very against this entire trip. It felt wrong, but what scared him was that it was _familiar_ for some reason. Pieces of ships littered the outside of the planet, Mandalorian and Republic ships. Then the planet, with a malicious green glow around the rubble that was left, sat at the center.

John, who had been piloting the ship, began to scan what he could for signs of life, while keeping an eye out for and anomalies that might cause them to get thrown off course, and probably die. They took a relatively small craft for maneuverability, but if they got thrown into the side of another ship, they would get squashed flat.

 _They are dead. You will be too._

William turned, feeling a tickling sensation of the back of his neck. "Did one of you say something?"

John turned momentarily from the console, "Great, now you're going crazy."

William decided to ignore the comment, but felt uneasy. He could feel thousands of eyes on him, watching and judging them as they flew through the wreckage.

 _You will fail. Just like they did. He is on your ship. The Lord Of Hunger._

William turned, blaster in hand. He could definitely hear something, and they were not happy.

"John, let's speed up the process please?" William no longer wanted to be on this mission. He felt backed into a cage for some reason, and he feared for whatever this Lord Of Hunger person was and if he actually was on the ship.

 _Korriban_

Ethan wasn't sure how long he had been flying, or exactly where too, but he still managed to make it to Korriban. The only thing he could think about was justice for his friends. Or was it revenge? Vengeance? Ethan couldn't tell the difference right now. He just wanted his brother to pay for what he has done. He landed a short distance away from a temple of a sort. This must be where Colton and his team went, he thought to himself. He felt a strange sense coming from inside the heart of the ruins. It felt like power almost, but it nauseated him slightly. He ran in, not hesitating or waiting to see if anyone was there. The air was hard to breathe, almost as if it was trying to choke him. No, pull something from him.

"Show yourself you coward! I know you're here, and if not, I'll kill anyone that's here!" His screams echoed through the halls, repeating what he said back to him. Then a slight vibrating resonated in the back of his skull.

 _See? Some Jedi you are. Your anger still pours out._

Ethan turned to try to see who said that to him, igniting his saber, but only one blade to allow him a little more control. Dust was the only thing behind him. He bagan to now cautiously venture through the Temple. He came out to a large room, where he immediately recognized it as the torture room. _Why do I know that?_ He was shocked at his knowledge of the place, he knew what each device did and how to use them.

 _You are not Jedi. You crave anger. Fighting is in your blood! Not politics or peace!_

This time the voice was raspy, yet he detected that it was feminine. He examined his surroundings, looking for someone to fight, but was met with silence. He then detects movement behind him, as he swiftly turns to see his brother swinging down on him. He barely had time to meet his saber in air, and locked them into place. HIs brother pressing down with tremendous strength.

"You are weak as a Jedi. Join me brother. It is our destiny!" His voice raspy and harsh through the rebreather.

"I'll kill you before that happens!" Ethan then through his brother off of him, but he vanished. There was no sign he had even been there. Was he going crazy in this place?

He began to continue, now aware that this place was messing with his mind. He entered what appeared to be a large tomb of a sort. He stood in the very center, looking around at the large statues and pillars representing all of the Sith Lords that had been buried here, with Darth Bane at the very end. _Why was he remembering that?_ He then began to see a slight shadow walking down towards him.

He readied his saber, "Come on! FIght me! COME ON!" He began screaming at the apparition, until it got close enough to see. A human, bald and pale, approached him, his eyes the same burning yellow as his brothers. He had a slight red glow around him, and Ethan could sense the death that surrounded him.

The apparition began walking an invisible circle around him. "You do not know the power that runs through your veins, do you? Your brother came, and found the answers he seeked. He is not here, but that doesn't mean you can't join him! Together, you will be the most powerful Sith Lords. It is your destiny. It's in your blood!" Slowly, more apparitions come from the ground and the walls. Ethan looks at each in wonder, because he can remember their names. Darth Nihilus, Darth Sion, Darth Vectivus, Lord Kaan, Darth Zannah, and Darth Millennial. All of them circling him, speaking at once. It was painful, his ears started to bleed, he could feel them pressing the Dark Side into him, or were they drawing it out? He felt like they were slowly opening a heavy door inside him, and each word they spoke slowly tore through the door.

He was then shoved with great force out of the circle into a wall. His vision, now blurry from his ordeal and the impact, could only make out another shadowy figure. He could only assume it was his brother.

"Get. Away. From. ME!" He thrusted his arms out, and the air changed smell and crackled as lightning shot from his arms into the figure, sending him flying across the room. He then lost all of his senses and fell to the floor.

 _Malachor V_

 _Shortly Before Events With Sith Lords and Ethan_

William kept hearing the voices, but began to ignore them as no one else could hear them. He turned to ask Colton to maybe check up on his vitals, when he noticed a sinister mask across his face. It looked as if made of bone, with red streaks coming from the top of the eye sockets, covering only where his eyes and nose where. William did a double take, and the mask was no longer on his face.

"What are you staring at me for?" Colton now looked worried.

"Oh, uh… nothing nevermind." William quickly turned around, and noticed that he wasn't on the ship anymore, but stood next to a Jedi commander on a massive war ship. He saw a massive battle raging before him, noticing the Mandalorian colors and Republic's symbols on the sides of ships. He turned and saw as the command nodded to one of the people at a console, and he flipped a lever. A blinding light exploded from the Planet, while all the ships around it began smashing into one another, falling towards the planet that appeared to be collapsing on itself. He fell over and found himself back on his ship. Colton was next to him, scanning his vitals.

"Dude, your heart rate went through the roof! Are you ok? It seemed like you were experiencing PTSD or something by how your brain waves were acting." William looked up, scanning his surroundings. Then, he is sitting in a temple, staring at Ethan in the middle of a group of shadows, as he is pushed out by a hooded figure. William can't hear anything, but sees Ethan shoot lightning at his savior, sending him across the room. Just as this happens, Tyler slams into a wall with enough force to dent it, scorch marks and bruises covering his body as the air smelt burnt.

"What is going on back there?!" John began yelling from the pilot's console. The group began tending to Tyler as john began to maneuver out of the graveyard. Just as they are almost out, they find remains of Grace's ship, and a outpost.

"John, take us there. We will be in and out in no time. Colton, stay with Tyler and fix him." William jumped up, still a little dizzy from what had just happened to him, but he was determined not to leave empty handed.

 _Outpost CZ-756_

William, John, and Victor landed at the outpost, and without hesitation began to mow through the droids stationed there. They had surprised them so much, a few of them even shot each other. They swiftly made it through the tiny outpost, all the way to the command room. A commander was standing there, but was detained by a stun shot from William. Victor moved to the console and began to download all of their data.

John stood at the door, guarding it from any possible attackers. "What are we dealing with Vic?"

"Well, the were definitely studding the Mass Shadow Generator. Also, some talk of a Sith Acolyte? What even is that?" Victor looked confusingly at the information.

"Don't care, where is it located?" William was loading his rifle, as they heard another patrol getting closer.

"Mustafar. Let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place." Victor rushed out the door, meeting the droids with a napalm flamethrower, melting their robotic forms.

 _Location: Unknown_

Ethan could barely make out his surroundings, but realized he was in a had trouble moving, his head making him dizzy and nauseous with every movement.

"Don't try moving. You seem pretty out of it at the moment. I'll get you back to Naboo in a little bit." A feminine voice answered from the cockpit. He noticed that the ship was small, maybe big enough to fit four people.

"Where...am…" He couldn't finish his sentence. He felt as if all of his energy was sapped from his body.

"Just rest, you'll be back home in no time." The voice soothed him back to sleep against his will, and he saw the events of Korriban replayed in his mind.

 _Naboo_

Ethan jumped from his bed. He had no idea how he got here, but he definitely remembers being on some woman's ship. He was still fully dressed from his trip, but his headache subsided. Walking out of his room, he almost walked into William standing outside his door.

"William? How did the mission go? I assumed you guys did it without me." William walked beside him matching his pace.

"We did, but Tyler is in critical condition. Burns all over his body for some reason, we really aren't sure why. But we found the location of the base. _The Wanderer_ is in ruins, no survivors."

"Shame. They could have had good information." Ethan said coldly.

William glanced at him a moment, "I guess. A lot of people died. Including Grace. We also found the location of a Sith Acolyte."

Ethan stopped him as they entered the command center. "There are always casualties in war. I want this Acolyte captured or killed. No inbetween."

William grabbed his arm, a concerned look beginning to form on his face, "Ethan, what happened? Did you fight Malakia? What's going on?"

Ethan looked down, about to answer, until someone entered the room. A woman, wearing a dark purple dress, brown hair pulled up and green piercing eyes, almost like she was looking around the room deciding who to kill.

"Can I help you?" Ethan asked, approaching the woman.

"Yes actually. I was sent by the Republic to oversee the missions going on. Since the loss of a few of your members, they decided an evaluation was necessary." She piped up. The woman eyed him down with the same aggression he met her with.

"Just don't get in the way Mrs.?"

"Just call me Ambassador. That should do. I will require a full assessment of your operations within the next few hours." With that she left the two men, dumbfounded at the authority she held herself with.

"Well, that's great. Get me anything you can about her. I'm gonna meditate." Ethan left William there in control center.

"You still haven't paid me-and he's gone. Great."


	9. Chapter 9

_Ambassadors Chambers_

 _24 hours before assault_

The Ambassador made it to her chambers, taking the longest route possible incase someone had been following her. Then, however, she realized that that was futile due to the fact that she was technically "safe". Whatever that meant being in the middle a compound with people around her that would arrest, and possibly kill her if they figured out who she was. She entered the small room, which first opened to an office then had two hallways which lead to different bedrooms, and grabbed her bag that was on her desk. She pulled out every pistol, grenade, and rifle and laid them on the desk. She planted these weapons in plants, behind furniture, under her desk, and one grenade in the bathroom just incase. As she was wrapping up, a knock was heard from her door. She smoothed out her dress, and proceeded to open the door as a pistol fell out of the nearby plant. She quickly scooped it up and tossed it out the nearby window. As the door opened, Ethan stepped in with a bag of holocrons.

"Ma'am. These contain all the information on our previous missions. Like you asked. You'll have to understand that some of the information was classified. Make sure these get returned." Ethan walked in and dropped the bag on the desk, not looking the Ambassador in the eyes. She stood in the doorway, blocking his exit.

"So, what is the next thing on the agenda?" She asked, prying for the information as nonchalantly as she could.

"You'll read about it in the report. Good day." And with that he pushed past her.

She leaned out her door and yelled at him down the hallway, "I'm not your enemy!" He gave no answer as he sped down the hallway. She turned and reentered her room.

 _Medical Bay_

 _20 Hours till assault_

Colton had been spending hours tending to Tyler's wounds. His wounds were not healing as easily as they usually do, which didn't help him understand the nature of the wounds. Since they literally just appeared on him, they had no idea what to do to fix it, and force healing him would take a great deal of energy from Colton. So they kept him in a medically induced coma. He had a few broken ribs, a spinal injury, concussion, and multiple burn wounds on his chest. The wounds almost seemed like he had been hit with a lightning bolt and flew into a wall.

"Tyler, what happened to you?" he knew he wouldn't get an answer, but he could not figure out why this would happen.

"Well, it's a sort of long story." Tyler had responded. Colton looked up quickly, hoping his friend had woken up. But he didn't move.

"Great. Hallucinations." He lowered his head again.

"Uh… no. Turn around." Colton followed the orders the voice game him...and Tyler was standing behind him. And he also was laid across the table. Colton looked at the Tyler standing before him, confused. He wore black robes with some light armor, similar to what Tyler wore regularly.

"But...wha...huh? Words were unable to form in Colton's mind, as he was too perplexed by what stood before him. Every fiber of his body told him that it was Tyler, but he felt dark.

"I know this looks weird, but I can explain." The other Tyler had his hands in front of him defensively as Colton stood before him, keeping a good distance away from him.

"Start talking. Now." Colton readied his saber, but did not activate it.

"I have been able to do solo missions and I'm good at recon because I've always had a double. I somehow generated a clone of myself while investigating a large pocket of the Dark Side of the force. The only problem is that I feel his pain and he gets injured when I do. You have that Tyler, the original one, in a coma that's why he isn't awake. I'm still under a lot of pain, but figured I should explain why he got hurt." The other Tyler slowly began moving to a nearby chair.

"So, you're like a dark clone or something?" Colton asked, sitting down adjacent to him, putting the Saber away. "If you're like him, say something only he would know.

"Four years ago you got you head stuck under a table trying to pick up candy you dropped. That gave me the opportunity to use you as a footrest." The other Tyler had his arms crossed as he wore a smug look, telling Colton of the memory.

"I hate you. But what happened?" As Tyler 2.0 began to tell him, William entered the room. He stops, everyone freezes. He looks to the Tyler sitting next to Tyler, and begins to raise his hand to question, then proceeded to close the door. He pulls a chair next to them and sits down.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Tyler 2.0 asked.

"Nope. Lets just say I keep having dreams about stuff, and this is not the weirdest thing I have seen recently. Just continue with what you were saying." William was calm surprisingly, making Tyler 2.0 ease a little bit more.

"Well, the day that Ethan kinda stormed off, I decided to follow him incase he needed help. He landed on some planet with a massive Sith temple. I followed him in and I think he began hallucinating, or seeing apparitions I wasn't. Then he eventually attacked what looked like a shadow to me, screaming at it to fight him. We went farther down into it, and the shadows were swirling around him. I felt something dark start coming from inside it and just summoned what i could of the force and tossed him out of it," Tyler 2.0 was looking over his shoulder constantly, as if someone would attack him if they saw him.

He continued, "I went over to check on him, and his eyes were yellow, he glared at me and I guess thought I was gonna hurt him, because I have not felt that much pain at one time. Lightning shot from his arms with so much force I guess I hit a wall and blacked out. When I started to come to, I saw a small figure dragging him away, and I blacked out again. I eventually woke up fully and managed to find a small derelict ship, got it working, and made my way back."

William had gotten up and began pacing the room."That explains why Ethan hasn't been very forthcoming recently. I think we need to talk to him"

"I'll pass. He already almost killed me once. Twice if you wanna be technical." Tyler 2.0 said. His arms remained crossed on his chest.

Colton got up and began walking to the door, "I'll go. We need to confront him. If he has gone Dark Si-"

William grabbed his arm, "He isn't Dark Side. Times are stressful. Let me talk, you stay for back up."

Colton shrugged his hand off, "Respectfully, if he wasn't Dark Side, you wouldn't need back up." They stood there for a small moment, absorbing the gravity of the situation that is unfolding onto them. Tyler 2.0 got up from his seat and puts his hood over his head.

"I'll see you guys eventually. Stay safe." And with that he disappeared. Colton and William said nothing else as the exited the Med-Bay and made their way to Ethan's personal office.

 _The Office of Jedi Knight: Ethan of the 501st legion_

 _19 Hours till assault_

Ethan sat looking at battle plans for the next mission. To call it an "assault", would be a drastic understatement. The entire 501st legion, along with the Legion of Shadow and jet troopers, were forming to attack a known strongpoint held by the enemy on Mustafar. While the troops attacked the base, his team would infiltrate and attempt to capture, or kill, the Sith Acolyte and discover what they can of Project Nemesis. They also had a contingency plan in place incase Malakia had shown up. This time, he would kill his brother if necessary.

 _Kill him and join us. Like you are supposed too! Or join him and conquer the galaxy!_

For the past few days the whispers got worse, constantly judging him, making him angry. He could feel a new form of anger brewing inside him, but it was different. Darker, yet not as hateful. He felt a need to rise above those around him, to become the strongest. This mission would definitely display his authority.

As he began to wrap up his plans, a knock thundered in his quiet office. Before he could answer, Colton and William barged in and stood across from him.

"What is going on with you? What happened at that temple? Come on, explain yourself!" Colton was yelling at Ethan, getting more and more angry with each syllable. William stood calmly next to him.

"I have nothing to say to either of you, besides watch your tone. I currently hold authority over you, and will see to it that you are out of my face in an instant. Now, if you have nothing important to say, leave." Ethan didn't even look up from his desk as he wrapped up the plans. Colton slammed his hand on the desk and tossed all of the holocrons and paper off, causing Ethan to jump up in surprise and fury.

"What happened!? You owe us an answer, because whatever you did sent Tyler to the med bay. And if you don't answer, I'll send you there myself." Colton was inches from Ethan's face, both men radiating heat from their rage. Ethan, however, had a red glow that began to form around him and his eyes began to adopt the yellow color of his brothers.

"You will stand down, or I'll make you." The air began to smell metallic, and the hair on Williams neck began to stand up. He stepped in between the two men and pushed them out of range. Both men now pushing against William, who had to use the small amount of force he could muster to keep them at bay. He almost resorted to his stun grenades when the Ambassador entered the room.

They men stopped fighting as she crossed her arms and gave a very stern, disappointed look, "Are you kidding me? You guys are acting like children while your friend is stuck in a medical coma, your brother is running rampant across the galaxy, and you have a mission coming up soon. Get a grip!" Everyone stood there in silence.

Ethan pushed passed the his friends, making his way out the door. "I'll be in the training room." William began to follow until the Ambassador stopped him.

"Let me, you two have done enough damage." William began to protest, then agreed that that would probably be best, and let her go after Ethan.

 _Training room_

 _17 hours till assault_

After he had destroyed four new recruits in the sparring pit, the rest of the gawkers left Ethan alone in the training room. Now he rained punches on practice dummies, seeing as they did not give up as fast. He eventually broke one, calling for a stronger one. The automated system brought out ones strong enough to withstand blaster fire, which seemed to work well.

As he threw punch after punch, a voice called from the top of the pit, "You won't solve anything punching practice dummies." The Ambassador stood with her arms crossed, wearing casual attire, having her hair pinned up.

Ethan glanced at her, and continued to hit the dummy before him. "Shouldn't you be doing something, like writing reports or getting someone to fetch you drinks?"

She dropped into the pit, circling Ethan as he wailed on the dummy relentlessly, "Well, someone is acting like a child, and I figured he needed an adult to talk to." Ethan turned fast enough to surprise her, as he stood within inches of her face, rage radiating off of him. It reminded her of Malakia, how his presence feels. "If you're here to taunt me, you might as well fight." The dummy exited through the floor, and a small ring glowed on the floor.

"I don't know, are you gonna get angry and throw a fit if you lose?" The Ambassador joked at him, making him a little angrier.

"I won't lose." He lunged at her, but she had been ready for it. As he swung with his right fist, she ducked under it and kicked his foot, using his own momentum to cause him to fall over.

"You are so predictable. What next, you gonna call this a practice round?" She looked as if her guard was down, hands at her sides loosely as she walked along the outside of the ring, Ethan directly across from her. He jumped closer, giving two quick jabs as The Ambassador dodged with ease and used her palm to smash into his sternum, causing him to stumble back. She threw a few punches into him, which were blocked for the most part.

She pulled back, letting him catch his breath, "I didn't peg you as someone who knew how to fight." He began to smile, slightly offsetting The Ambassador. She lunged at him and he grabbed her wrist as it passed his face. He then pulled her off balance and kicked her feet out from under her. She sprang back up in a flash, kneeing him in the side and using his hunched state to roll over his back, giving him a swift punch that knocked him back to the ground.

Laughter could be heard, but it was not coming from either fighter. Ethan looked up to see Victor with a bowl of treats, watching the fight. "She got you pretty good!" The Ambassador began to smile, which Ethan used as a distraction and charged at her legs, bringing her to the ground. He sat on top of her, holding her arm in an uncomfortably painful way.

"Submit." Ethan had a smug grin. He believed he won, seeing no way she could get out of this. Her foot then came out of nowhere around his face, slamming him into the ground. She then grabbed his leg under her armpit and pulled it almost to the back of his head, leaving him in a position he could not move in.

"You first." The Ambassador was now grinning. Ethan tapped her leg three times, signaling that he had submitted. They rested, sitting across from each other as Ethan rubbed his leg.

"You calmed down now?" She held her head low, as if prepared for him to snap at her.

"I'm good. Thank you." Ethan stood up and extended a hand, which she took and accepted the help up. They began to leave the training room.

The Ambassador broke the silence as they walked to the door."You need to talk to your friends. They will be all you have one day, best not to throw that away." She stopped him in the doorway of the training room, and stared him down.

"I… I guess you're right. I have been, to emotional. Thank you. For a politician, you fight like a beast. What is your name anyways, Ambassador?"

She began to leave as she said over her shoulder, "Carolyne. Now I think you have some important business to attend too. Good day Knight."

Ethan began to stare at the ground, wondering what to say to his men about the temple incident.

"I think you should talk about it. It helps." Victor now stood beside him, still eating his candy."

"You're right. Gather everyone in the control room. Emergency meeting."

 _The Ambassador's Chambers_

 _15 hours before the assault_

Archangel walked to her room, thinking over her new identity. Carolyne. Name seemed powerful, which would help with her _Ambassador_ disguise. She entered her room and locked the door. She walked over to her desk, and began the call to her current employer. The half metal face appeared holographically on her desk.

"Status report." It barked at her.

"They are having some internal conflicts. Ethan is planning a big operation, but refuses to tell me anything. I do have mission reports from some of their previous missions. That is all i have to report." She stood there emotionlessly discussing with the Sith Lord.

"Good. Report back when you learn something. And do not get close. It will just prove to be weakness." With that he ended the call, leaving Carolyne alone in her room. She huffed with the burden, but with this pay she could finally disappear for good.

 _Mustafar_

 _13 hours before assault_

"I told you, only the strongest droids. They are a team of Jedi and bounty hunters. Quite being an ignorant fool!" Josh was yelling at the factory supervisors. He had been covertly creating more and more Super Battle Droids for an attack he was orchestrating. He would take out the Jedi that have been a nuisance of late, on his own initiative. Malakia, in his opinion, had been too weak to actually take them out. One swift attack while they weren't expecting it would end them. All he needed was control of Nemesis. Alas, he couldn't figure out how. There wasn't a clear force connection between him and Malakia, and he had no idea about any technology that was keeping him under control. Josh was certain that Nemesis was the last piece of the puzzle, and maybe his master would promote HIM as the new apprentice. As long as he could keep this under Malakia's nose. His plan would soon be complete.

 _Naboo_

 _Control Room_

 _10 hours before assault_

Everyone had been gathered in the control room on account for the emergency meeting. Ethan stood in the room, waiting for everyone to settle in, find their seats. They had two empty seats, Grace and Tyler.

"Alright. I gathered you guys here on account of the upcoming mission, and my unprecedented trip to Korriban. Our next mission is an all-out assault on Mustafar, where a Sith Acolyte is rumored to be. If he is not there, we still will have taken out one of their larger factories for the production of droids." Ethan stood at the end of the table, not moving as he told them their mission.

"And… my trip to Korriban. I'm not proud of it. What happened there will change me forever, but I will not hide it from you all anymore." Everyone leaned in and listened as he told them of what he underwent.

Colton stood. "Dude, I'm so sorry. If i had known that's what happened…"

"It's ok. I should have told you all. But, I think that there is something more going on." Ethan turned, facing out a window as he talked.

"What do you mean?" Victor now became intrigued, leaning closer in his seat.

"One of the apparitions that came to me, I felt close to him. He told me that being a Sith Lord runs through my veins, just like Malakia."

Victor grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. "He is playing with your mind. All Sith do that. Don't dwell on it, you are not Sith. I guarantee it."

They nodded in agreement. Ethan began to walk to the exit. "Mission is in ten hours. Get some rest guys."


	10. Chapter 10

_Republic Flagship: The Spear_

 _Outside Mustafar_

 _1 Hour Before Assault_

Ethan stood at the helm of the flagship he had been given command of. It was one of their larger ships, with enough space to launch an assault of this scale. He was now preparing himself, mentally and physically, to give the briefing to his friends on what they were doing. If this assault fails, many troopers would be lost, and possibly them. There was no room for error. He felt relieved after he had told them of what happened at the temple, but felt a sense of distrust. Like everyone hid under a heavy blanket of doubt. He needed to remove that doubt or their mission would fail.

He walked into their own private briefing room, with a few Commanders at the ready.

"Alright. We have approximately one hour till we launch the assault. So far, we have the element of surprise. Tyler and his team of Shadow Troopers have done some reconnaissance around the facility, and no buildup of forces have been detected. That said, we need to move very fast, and with lethal efficiency."

One of the Commanders stood up, a blue stripe down his helmet and face, "Sir, my team has been outfitted with RPS-6 rocket launchers. We are providing artillery and anti-air support."

The other, who brandished a wickedly curved knife on his chest, began after him, "My Commandos and I are ready for HALO drop as soon as you are."

Ethan nodded in agreement, "Thank you, and let Ponds know I said thanks for the support." Now turning his attention to the Jedi and Bounty Hunters, "This is going to be hard battle, regardless of the amount of troops. The Sith Acolyte there is going to be skilled, not to mention that we could run into more force sensitives under the Acolyte. They are dangerous, and will not hesitate to kill us, so we shouldn't either. I know, it's not the best situation, but it is the one we have to work with. If Malakia is here, attempt to apprehend him, but kill him if necessary. I do not think he is going to be here, but just incase be ready."

They all nodded. Victor raised his hand for permission to speak, and Ethan gave him a small nod as confirmation. "What about Cameron?"

Ethan let out a small huff. "I think if we can disable Malakia if he is here, maybe Nemesis will also deactivate, but Cameron is buried in there, inside Nemesis. Do not hesitate to kill him if there is no alternative. Cameron was a strong saber fighter. Nemesis is ruthless. He will kill you if you do not strike first. But if Malakia is not here, neither will Nemesis."

"Any other questions?" Ethan looked at everyone standing in front of him. Everyone with some unique ability, his friends, his allies…

 _His Competition._

He looked down a moment. He couldn't think like that. This may be the last time they fight together, he did not want to remember them this way. No one asked any questions, so he began with the plan of assault.

Shortly after they finished their battle strategies, Ethan was summoned to the communications room. A call was waiting for him, and in this time he suspected it was important. He stepped into the dark, round room, and activated a control panel. An image of a woman sitting in her office holographically appeared, her hands folded over her desk.

"Carolyne, Ambassador excuse me, what is the meaning of this call?" Ethan was slightly confused at the call, seeing as she did not have any reason for iit.

"I know you must be terribly busy, but it doesn't sit right with my conscious knowing you all are risking your lives on a mission that I don't know about. I know it's not my place, but please tell me whats going on. I'm worried about you all coming back in one piece." Her tone made Ethan feel slightly guilty about excluding her from the plans, but at the same time, he was weary of her. Cautious. He figured it's just him being paranoid, seeing as he had no reason to distrust her, as she is from the Republic.

"We are on Mustafar. One of the biggest assaults I have personally led. But don't worry, we will be fine. I'll tell you how it goes when I get back." And with that, they formally said goodbye and he went on to get ready for the drop.

 _Location: Unknown_

 _2 Hours before Assault_

Malakia woke in a cold sweat. Nightmares again. Constantly, just someone laughing calling him pathetic. Weak. Puppet. We was certain of _who_ it was, just didn't know why. He was doing what he wanted. Why did he torment him? He walked out of his tube, made specially to help him recover and heal from his respiratory wounds and block any attempts to reach into his mind with the Force. He discovered that someone had tried a long time ago, and, after killing him, decided to take measures for that to never happen again.

He put on his respirator, his dark robes, and proceeded out of his room to check on the operations he was conducting. He noticed, however, no one had made any sarcastic comments. No one trying to instigate fights, belittle him, or antagonize his personal death machine. Josh wasn't around. He had been missing for a week or two. In a normal situation, he would have been pleased at this news, but Josh had been conniving and plotting against Malakia since he got here.

He walked into his command room, and pulled the Lead Officer to the side. "I need reports of anything unusual happening at any of our facilities or outposts. I need them immediately." The officer nodded and walked away briskly. Malakia continued to enter his office, where Nemesis sat in the corner, deactivated and restrained. The modifications to Cameron's body, and with the help of the Nemesis Program, made Cameron a monster. Able to lift fighters and toss them about as if they were nothing. Hence the restraints, which, if he woke up on his own power, would electrocute him with enough voltage that would normally fry any normal person. Instead, it renders him unconscious. Within moments of sitting at his desk, a Private entered the room with the reports that were asked for. He set them on his desk, gave a small bow, and exited swiftly.

As Malakia read, he began to see assets and resources moved to one of their factories on Mustafar. He also read that the standing army on Mustafar had increased almost exponentially within the time Josh disappeared.

Malakia leaned over and activated a channel with one of his officers. "Yes My Lord?"

"I need some of my personal Super Battle Droids sent to Mustafar, I will send the coordinates. Have them apprehend, or kill, the Sith Acolyte that resides there."

"Yes My Lord, I will send them as soon as possible." And the channel buzzed closed.

Malakia stood in his office, staring into space. The void, with small specs of planets and stars. He began to wonder, these past few months, what he was supposed to be? Sith Lord? A soldier? A mindless beast like Nemesis? He was so deep in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice his communicator buzzing on his desk. He lifted it and saw that Archangel had been trying to contact him for about thirty minutes. He answered.

"What is it?" He gruffly asked the bounty hunter. Or mercenary, whatever it was she called herself.

"The Jedi are launching an assault on Mustafar. Don't know where or why, just know it's happening soon."

"You couldn't bring this to my attention sooner?!" Malakia stood in anger, looking for something to hit.

"I just now figured it out. He doesn't trust me yet."

"THEN MAKE HIM. I'll contact you afterwards." Malakia hung up before she could speak. He began to reach for his intercom to contact a fleet to make their way there, but stopped. It's Josh more than likely that they are there. Maybe they can get rid of him? He slowly backed away from the comms system, and resumed gazing out his window. He realized, that this problem will fix itself.

 _Mustafar_

 _Assault_

As they began to lower into the atmosphere, the heat began increasing almost exponentially. Mustafar was a volcanic planet, with its inhabitants living mostly underground. This facility was probably above ground to avoid them, which meant it had to have gravity supports and a heat shield. The plan was to destroy both after getting any information out they could. That's what Ethan's team was for. Ethan looked to the sides of the ship's, seeing a staggering amount of ships behind him, all loaded with troops. This facility was going down, no matter what happened.

Victor sat asleep in a corner of the ship, next to John. The commander with the curved knife spoke up, breaking the silence. "You know your friend is asleep, yeah?"

Colton nodded, "He usually is before missions, or reading. Not sure which one is his favorite."

Victor woke with a jolt, "I'm not a princess! Oh, wait. Am I awake now?"

John signed, "Yes, Your Highness. You are. Congrats."

"Oh. Well then. Last time I eat candy before sleeping."

"Drop in t-minus five. Prepare now" The ship began telling them to suit up. Once inside the facility, they would be safe from the heat. Until then, they had special shield devices that would protect them as long as they worked. If they take too much damage it might shut down.

The sides of the ship opened, exposing the team to the outside heat.

Ethan stood closest to the edge, "You guys ready?" Everyone either nodded or gave a small thumbs up in acknowledgement. The ship gave four small beeps, the fourth being the loudest, and signalled for the drop. Everyone dismounted from the ship, falling at a very accelerated rate to the surface of the facility. As they fell, it almost seemed empty. Then the ground illuminated with blaster fire and explosions. A wave of white and blue clashed with the facility, as it came to life. Droids poured out of the facility in swarms, growing exponentially larger. As the team closed in on the ground, they began to redirect themselves almost behind enemy lines. As planned, the droids all filtered out, leaving the actual facility with a smaller amount of droids. The group used small jet boosters to soften their descent, except for the Bounty Hunters since their jetpacks were strong enough to break the fall. The Jedi's sabers all erupted to life as the blaster wielders and troopers circled the area, ensuring the landing zone was cleared. A few super battle droids came through a doorway, but were quickly dispatched by the commandos that followed them.

Where the team landed, they had access to the very bottom floor, making their job a little harder with the trek all the way up the tower. The team began to enter the tower as a large group of super battle droids and droidekas poured out of the building, intercepting the group. They quickly dived into cover against the machines, even having some of the force wielders make cover from nearby rocks and rubble. While the Jedi played defence, deflecting blaster fire back towards the droids, the commandos, Bounty Hunters, and John, who used a pistol, sent volleys of fire back at the droids. Slowly the droids numbers dwindled at a very alarming rate, and two smaller blue lightsabers could be seen in the middle of them, cutting through the droids as they began to finally realize that they were being flanked. As the last droid was being dismembered by the flanker, Tyler deactivated his sabers and approached the group.

"So, there aren't too many inside now, and the troops will be able to hold out. Also, I confirmed that the Acolyte is on the top floor, and evac is on its way so we need to hurry."

Victor pushed passed, his blaster rifle on his shoulders, "Well then, let's hurry up! I wanna blow this place up already!" The rest of the group followed Victor as the pushed into the building.

Upon entering, it became early silent, aside from the hum of the sabers that were ignited.

Colton broke the silence, "Guys, I am getting a very bad vibe from this. I think we are being watched."

"You are." A voice echoed throughout the floor, and made the building's walls shake. They could hear movement, but it sounded as if it came from all directions. No number of people could be made out, due to how dim the inside of the building was. The group walked in a revolving circle towards the stairs. Just as they reached the beginning of the stairs, a human figure dropped in front of them. Most of his body was covered in a metal exoskeleton, with his head being encased by a helmet with no visible holes. He thrusted out his hand, pushing the entire group back in wave of force. John was up on his feet first, dashing at the unknown assailant, but getting thwarted aside by another who emerged from the shadows. Tyler had managed to vanish, dropping onto one from the ceiling, but before he connected with the man he grabbed him with the force and tossed him back at the group.

Ethan stood before them in a defensive stance, prepared to counter most of their attacks. "I think these are some of the force sensitives we heard about. They can probably detect most of our moves before we even attack."

Victor had his gun trained on one of them, about ready to pull the trigger, "Would guns work you think?" Without an answer fired multiple shots at them, but they swayed and ducked out of the way with ease.

William piped up while pulling himself from the floor, "No. They don't."

Just as everyone was standing up, the two force sensitives began to glow, and the smell of ozone began to attack the noses of the group. Both sensitives erupted in lightning, aimed directly at the group. While most of the commandos ducked for cover, everyone else was covered in red lightning, but only for a moment. It all started getting channeled into one point, turning blue and getting brighter.

Ethan sat and struggled in front of the group, "Go! I can hold them off. I'll see you guys at the top." The rest of the group made a mad dash for the stairs, and began climbing. They could hear sounds of fighting and blaster fire, and screams. Victor almost turned, but was stopped by John.

"We need to go back for him! We can't just leave him!" Victor yelled in John's face.

"You heard him, we need to move. The Acolyte's transport is almost hear, and we are running out of time." John pushed Victor back up the stairs, and they continued up as fast as they could. Tyler was nowhere to be found.

They finally reached the top floor, and found a robed figure hunched over a desk, yelling into a communications unit. "GET ME MY EVAC NOW! THEY ARE ALMOST...here." He turned, activating a red saber. The wall at the far side of the building erupted, shaking the whole building throwing rocks and droids everywhere.

Colton spoke up, "You can come with us quietly, and you will not be harmed, or we can do this forcefully. Your choice."

The Acolyte charged, "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALI-"Tyler dashed from the shadows, blocking his saber strike. Then, another robed figure dashed from the other side, tackling the acolyte to the ground and putting cuffs on him.

He got back up to his feet, "YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP ME?! I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN ALL OF YOU! I WILL CRUSH YOU WITH MY MI-" he gets interrupted by a shock baton hitting him square in the forehead, rendering him unconscious. Victor walks over, picking it back up, as John and Colton lift a large rock and place it on him, making him unable to get up.

The robed figure took his hood off, exposing Tyler 2.0 to the rest of the group.

He put his hands up defensively, "I'll explain later. Promise I'm a good guy." Everyone nodded in agreement. Time was running out.

"Alright guys, let's search the area for anything useful." William began looking for stuff on a computer, Colton searched through holocrons, and some troopers searched blueprints they found. Everyone else baby sat the Acolyte or watched the entrance. Sounds of marching could then be heard coming from the roof.

"Droids, guard the entrance! Sounds like a lot of them." One of the commandos dashed to cover, the others following him. The sounds got louder, and the ripping of metal became very loud, and blaster fire and explosions could be heard on the other side of the door. As it opened, a battle worn Ethan fell through, with almost thirty destroyed droids behind him.

"What the- nevermind, Colton heal him!" John ordered. Colton sat beside him, helping him regain focus. Tyler and Tyler 2.0 lifted him up and sat him in a chair. Tyler shook his shoulder slightly, "What happened?"

Ethan kept his gaze to the floor, "I don't know. It went all hazy. There was lighting and they moved very fast. But, i think I killed them." Everyone went silent.

John grabbed his shoulder, "It's ok. We will discuss this when the mission is over."

After a few minutes of searching for information, the demolition troopers announced that the charges were in place. Colton and Tyler approached the group with a stack of holocrons.

Colton holded one up to show the group, "So we found this holocron, with detailed plans to get rid of malakia and take over Project Nemesis. The only problem is that it requires a code from the Acolyte." Everyone looked at the unconscious robed figure.

John began to walk towards the door, dragging the Acolyte with him, "Let's get out of here then, the charges are going off soon. Need to get clear of the blast zone." The team ran up to the roof, where the "borrowed" the Acolyte's evacuation shuttle, making their way back to _The Spear._

 _Republic Flagship: The Spear_

 _One Day After Assault_

 _Interrogation Room_

"You are all beneath me! None of your tactics will work. Why not bring that temper tantrum throwing "Knight" in here, maybe he can turn me like he did his brother, oh wait… he couldn't." The Acolyte, which they figured out his name was Josh, had been going through 18 hours of interrogation. He did nothing but berate and make fun of the entire group. Ethan especially.

Colton pressed his hands to his face, fed up with his constant jokes and insults, "Just give us the password. Then you will have a trail and probably get fair treatment. Maybe."

"Or I can get you all to pull your hair out, which sounds a lot more fun." Josh retorted. He sat with his arms crossed on the other side of the table. He didn't try anything due to the fact that he was surrounded by a majority of the team that captured him, and victor held his shock baton close to his face.

Ethan stepped into the room, "Ok, you wanted me here I am. Now tell me, what is the code and what is my brother planning." He took the seat across from him.

"How about you go jump into some lava?" Josh stared blankly at Ethan.

Several hours passed as Ethan and Josh went back and forth. Ethan asked questions, Josh said some snappy remark, and then it repeated. Eventually Josh started hitting nerves, talking about how Ethan failed Malakia, Cameron, and Grace.

"You know NOTHING of the sacrifices I have made. And certainly are not one to judge." Ethan stood up. Getting closer to his face.

"No, you just sacrificed your friends. Like a Sit-" Josh was cut short as he was lifted up from the ground, and levitated there as he gasped for air.

Everyone had left the room out of frustration, but soon began running back as they saw the security feed from the other interrogation room.

"If you won't tell me what I want to know, I will force it from you." Ethan then began to do what seemed natural. He began using the force, prying at Josh's memories and information. He learned the code, saw what he tried doing with Cameron, and saw a file. It referred to project Nemesis, but had information about more people than just Cameron. He wasn't the Nemesis Project. Just part of it.

He dropped Josh's unconscious body to the ground, slumping over himself as he blacked out from the effort.


End file.
